


Gunning for Us

by SabrinaBinah



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Animal Attack, Canon-Typical Violence, Explicit Language, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Game Spoilers, Headcanon, Needles, Slow Burn, Suspense
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-02
Updated: 2016-10-18
Packaged: 2018-08-19 01:32:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 24
Words: 27,630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8183926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SabrinaBinah/pseuds/SabrinaBinah
Summary: Evelyn has been trudging through the dangers of the Commonwealth in search of help. Whispers around town have led her to Goodneighbor where her only hope for avenging her husband's death and finding her kidnapped son might be.





	1. The Welcome Wagon

**Author's Note:**

> This is my second attempt at writing a fic. I intend for this one to be a little more plot-centric than the last one I posted here. Hope you enjoy it.

It was uncharacteristically balmy for a November night. Evelyn was peeved at the sweat accumulating on her brow. She held her trusty sniper rifle in her hands and boasted a sword she had purchased from a dealer further north strapped to her back. She crouched low, stalking along the hard ground below. She made every effort to ensure her boots didn’t make a sound as she approached the building ahead. It was just as she had suspected: a group of super mutants were keeping watch on their tower about two hundred yards away. She carefully scanned the area through her scope and deduced that she could probably pick off the ones in closest proximity before she and her canine companion made a beeline for the neon sign ahead. It was too far to read clearly, but the coordinates displayed on her Pip-Boy suggested that it must be a community called Goodneighbor, a place a guard from Diamond City had suggested she avoid. Regardless of his warning, she sought it out. There was someone there she needed to meet.

Evelyn took a moment to give Dogmeat a few mole rat chunks she had stowed away in her pack. “Eat this, boy. You’ll need the energy.” She dipped her hand into a small reservoir of mud adjacent to her and rubbed it across her face. It wasn’t the best camouflage, but to her understanding, super mutants weren’t renowned for their intelligence or perception. She looked at her dog and made a flat-palmed gesture towards the ground. “Stay low,” she whispered. The two of them crept past the garbage can that had been their hiding spot. Evelyn spotted a pile of debris that would make an acceptable vantage point to get a decent shot at them. She climbed to the apex and held her breath to steady her aim before firing a shot. The bullet flew straight into the closest one’s left eye, blood and chunks of brain matter scattering behind it as it fell dead on the ground. She released her breath as she heard another one grunt loudly, _“Who’s there?!”_ She watched it scrambling around through her scope, pounding a fist into its chest. It flailed its arms wildly as it screamed, _“PUNY HUMAN!”_ Evelyn's lips stretched into a cocky grin. The creature’s back faced her as it let out its sickening, guttural war cries. _You’re looking the wrong way, pal._ She held her breath to stabilize her aim when she heard a growl coming from her right. _Oh, fuck._

In the blink of an eye, a monstrosity resembling an overgrown bull terrier latched its teeth onto her leg. She let out a cry of agony that was louder than she had hoped, and accidentally fired her rifle into the air, giving away her position. “Damn it!” she lamented. Dogmeat snarled and sunk his teeth onto the mutant hound’s throat, startling it enough that it removed its vice grip on Evelyn’s leg. The super mutant was lumbering towards her. In a panic, her shaking hands steadied just enough to fire a shot into the joint between its leg and its hip, rendering it unable to walk. She glanced back at the struggle between the two dogs on her right. Dogmeat was losing this one. Evelyn quickly strapped her rifle onto her back and brandished her sword, hobbling as quickly as her injured leg would allow towards the scuffle. She raised it above her head and sliced the hound in two below the waist. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! Dogmeat!” she cried. Scanning her dog, she saw a coat of blood on his ribs. Her eyes returned to the incapacitated super mutant. More were coming down from the tower to beef up defenses. _Time to make a run for it._ She hurriedly sheathed her sword and scooped Dogmeat up into her arms before sprinting in spite of her leg – _fight or flight_ – in the direction of the neon sign. Every time her foot hit the ground it felt like daggers shooting up to her ribs. It didn’t matter. She and her dog needed shelter and immediate medical attention. She wasn’t about to let a leg injury keep her from it.

After what seemed like an eternity, she reached the door beneath the glowing sign that read, _Goodneighbor._ Heaving Dogmeat over one shoulder, she scrambled to find the knob of the door, the mutants’ battle cries too close in proximity for her comfort. Her hand finally found the knob and she tumbled past the threshold as the door swung open, slamming the door behind her and staggering into the center of the town’s entrance square. A small crowd of people stared at her. Briefly studying their faces, looking like a deer in headlights, Evelyn noticed that many of them didn’t look quite _human._ One of the few that did, though, was practically dragging his knuckles across the ground toward her. _Who’s this troglodyte looking motherfucker?_ She held Dogmeat defensively and glared as he approached. She was beginning to feel weak and tired, her arms and legs trembling under the dog’s weight.

“Hold up, there. First time in Goodneighbor? Can’t go walking around without insurance,” he jeered, crossing his arms with an undeserved air of importance.

“Fuck off, pissant," she spat. "Much as I’d like to hang around the welcome wagon, my dog is hurt and I don’t have any time for your bullshit. Now, step aside." It became clear that he had no intention of obeying her commands when he took a few lurching steps toward her.

“I said, ‘pay up.’ Don’t want any ‘accidents’ to happen to ya, do ya? You walk around Goodneighbor without insurance, 'accidents' are bound to happen - big, _bloody_ accidents,” the hulking man taunted.

Becoming more and more infuriated at the man's audacity with every word that escaped his mouth, Evelyn laid Dogmeat gently on the pavement and the dog gave a pathetic but grateful whimper as his response. "I don't think he's going to leave us alone, boy. Don't move," she whispered. She turned her attention back to the bald man facing her and shouted, “I said I don’t have time for this bullshit! Now, step off before I step _you_ off!” She realized that the words that escaped her might not have made much sense and that she had come up with significantly better rebuttals in the past, but considering the day she'd had, she figured she could give herself a free pass this time. It was becoming clear, however, that her charming wit was not persuading the stranger to go away.

 _Fight or flight, Evelyn. Time to fight._ Using her uninjured foot like a springboard, she leaped onto the man, tackling him to the ground and raining furious blows of hell fire with her fists onto his baffled face. Her pace slowed but her force was still unmerciful as she became more and more overwhelmed by fatigue. Splatters of blood began to dot her face and a few drops made their way into her mouth as she cried, “Don’t! Fuck! With! Me!” Each word was punctuated with a punch, each punch harder than the last. She relented long enough to pull a knife from her boot and plunge it into his neck.

Panting heavily, she jerked her knife from the depths of his tough flesh and stood up, having difficulty staying upright. Her knuckles were swollen and covered with the stranger’s blood. If they weren’t cracked or broken, she knew they would at least bruise up in a very ugly way. She looked up and pivoted her head back and forth, resembling a wild animal. “Anyone else want a go at me?” she shouted. “I can take…“ Before she could voice her threat, her words were cut short by a slow clap and chuckling coming from her left.

“Whoa-ho-ho! I like you already. Come into a new place and put on a show of dominance. Nice,” a gravelly voice mused. Evelyn squinted hard, her vision blurring, as a shadowy figure dressed in – _a colonial jacket? Seriously?_ \- came into the light. She clutched the side of her head and laughed between gasps at the shadowy man's getup, delusional from the pain and adrenaline engulfing her. Her peripheral vision was beginning to darken. It almost appeared to her as though she was about to be escorted to the Afterlife by an angel from the Revolutionary War.

“What the hell are _you_ supposed to be?” she shrieked in giggling hysterics before her surroundings went dark.


	2. Patch Me Up, Doc

When she came to, Evelyn was lying on a ragged couch, the warm yellow light of a nearby lantern surrounding her. The smell of cigarette smoke filled the air and there was an assortment of pills and drug paraphernalia on a coffee table that sat adjacent to her. As she took a mental inventory of the room, she noticed a figure standing in a doorway, a woman armored and armed to the teeth, with hair that looked like hot coals and a cigarette dangling from her scowling lips. Evelyn bolted upright and reached instinctively for her rifle, her unfamiliar surroundings suddenly a spinning blur.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, lay your head back, sister. Take it easy.” It was the colonial guy again. Evelyn, coming out of her state of panic, shifted her focus from the intimidating woman in the doorway to the source of the kind, raspy voice in her ear. She narrowed her eyes on his face as he knelt by her side. His skin looked like grooved leather – almost as though he had barely made it out of a burning building alive. Her eyes widened as she studied his features.

“What, ain’t you ever seen a ghoul before? You like it? I think it gives me a kind of sexy, King of the Zombies look,” he chuckled. Evelyn could just then make the connection. He bore a vague resemblance to the ferals she’d been fighting the long route here, but clearly more able to control his movements and, admittedly, devilishly handsome.

“Can’t say I’ve ever met one that hasn’t tried to rip my limbs off,” Evelyn muttered, having a much easier time of sitting up now. She looked down at her bandaged hands and then at her leg. Her Vault suit had been cut off at the knee and several layers of gauze were wrapped around her leg where she had been bitten. “Who’s the heavy artillery?” she gestured towards the doorway at the fiery redhead, still not entirely convinced that she hadn’t been sucked into some kind of slave trade.

“Who, Fahrenheit? She’s an old friend and a ruthless bodyguard. I like having her around. Her presence gives me peace of mind,” he replied. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his coat pocket and, being a generous host, offered one to his guest. She hadn’t lit one of those up in ages, but in light of the day’s events, she figured she had earned one. She took one between her fingertips before the ghoul held a lighter to her to spark it.

She looked the man up and down, now remembering that she had rudely laughed at him before he so kindly took her in to tend her wounds. “So, about what I asked earlier…when I laughed at you…I couldn’t see your face. All I noticed was that your outfit is pretty outlandish. What’s with that? Who are you?”

“My outfit is a story for when we get to know each other a little better, sister. Name’s John Hancock. I’m the mayor of this humble establishment we call Goodneighbor. Now, what’s your name?” He shifted into a cross-legged position as he eyed his guest intently.

“John…Hancock? I guess that explains the costume. That’s one hell of a gimmick,” she smirked. “My name is Evelyn. Evelyn Rhoades. Thanks for a proper welcome, Mr. Mayor.” Her eyes widened as a jolt went through her body. She just remembered. “Dogmeat! Where’s my dog, Mr. Hancock?”

“Please, please, just call me Hancock. You can relax; your pooch is with Daisy. She’s a good friend of mine. She’s got a couple stimpaks to spare and has a few blankets to make him a comfortable little bed for the night. As for you, doll,” he grinned, not keeping it a secret that he was looking her over flirtatiously, “I’m curious as to what brought you here.”

“I actually came here because I’ve been hearing talk around the Commonwealth about a hired gun. I think he can help me with something I need to get done,” said Evelyn, trying to avoid choking up at the thought of the business to which she needed to attend. “Does the name, MacCready, ring a bell?”

“Aw,” the mischievous ghoul feigned, “And here I thought you’d traveled far and wide just to catch a glimpse of me.” Regaining a more serious tone, he said, “Yeah, I know where he is. Guy’s been holed up in the Third Rail for months, now, doing some kind of mercenary shit I’ve been turning a blind eye to. I’ll take you there on the condition that you rest up for a little while longer here, and that you let me buy you a drink before we meet him. Trust me, you’ll need it.”

She eyed him skeptically. He was definitely a flirt, but he didn’t seem like the type to take advantage of her without her consent, so she agreed. “Do you have any idea when I’ll be able to leave town? I have to take care of…something urgent. That’s why I need to meet this MacCready guy.”

“Can’t say I do, doll,” Hancock began, “but Doctor Amari left to go grab another stimpak from her office a little while before you came to. She should be back here any minute now.”

Almost as though on cue, a woman with furrowed eyebrows and pursed lips stepped through the door with a first aid kit. “What on earth were you thinking?” she chided. “You stagger in here with a serious bite from a mutant hound then you pick a fight with Finn? You could have gotten yourself killed!” Evelyn took note that she didn’t even seem to care about the wellbeing of the man whose life she had taken, nor did anyone else. He must have really been an insignificant pissant after all. 

“Guess I was high on an adrenaline rush. I barely even made it here alive to begin with,” she responded before wincing in pain as Doctor Amari pushed the needle of a stimpak into a vein protruding from her ankle. Already the dull throbbing sensation of the wound was beginning to subside.

“You need to change your dressings regularly and monitor the wound for the next several days to ensure it doesn’t become infected. If it becomes red and swollen or if you notice opaque drainage from the stitches, you must immediately seek medical attention unless you’d like to lose your leg. It is my professional opinion that it would be in your best interest to stay in Goodneighbor for at least two days. If you need stimpaks or antiseptic, you can always find me at the Memory Den,” she advised. “You should be fine to put a little weight on it, but try to center the majority of your balance on your left leg until it’s healed. And don’t go picking anymore fights.”

With that, the doctor left the room, seemingly in a hurry to deal with other matters. “Well, she’s no fun. I wanted to go for a jog around the Commonwealth,” Evelyn jested. “So, I guess Dogmeat and I are going to be holed up here for a couple days, Hancock. How about that drink?”

“For you, I’ll even buy two,” the ghoul purred.


	3. Old Smooth-Skin

They hobbled unsteadily down the stairs, Evelyn leaning on her new ghoulish friend for support as they made their way out the door. When they stepped outside, Evelyn had to look back twice at the building they were leaving. “I didn’t realize that this was the old Statehouse,” she said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “It’s still in beautiful condition, after all these years…”

“It’s looked the same for as long as I can remember,” Hancock recalled, leading her slowly in the direction of the Third Rail. “How many years are we talking here, doll?”

“About 210,” she responded absently. “I know that sounds crazy…”

“I’ve heard stranger things,” Hancock replied. “You’re a little bit old for a smooth-skin, but far too pretty to be a ghoul. How do you remember anything from that long ago?” Hancock shifted her weight over his shoulder a bit, nonchalantly brushing his hand on the curve of her waist as he did so.

Evelyn smirked. “Smooth-skin? That some sort of slur ghouls use to talk shit about humans?” Hancock lowered his head at the remark, showing the first sign of shame she’d seen of him that day. “Don’t worry about it, Hancock, I really don’t care. I do, however, want to save that story for when I’m a little less sober.” Hancock picked his head back up and smiled earnestly. Evelyn took a moment to appreciate the eccentricity of the Mayor’s blacked out eyes. They were tempting and dangerous, almost like the dark, stormy waters of the Atlantic on a turbulent day.

They turned a corner around the Statehouse to what would have become a fully functional subway had the bombs not fallen. Three words were emblazoned above the door: The Third Rail. “The transportation project that never got finished,” Evelyn proclaimed astutely. “You all turned it into a bar? That’s one way to go about it.”

“Well, it wasn’t doing the people of Goodneighbor much good otherwise, so we figured we’d make better use of the space,” he said as he opened the door. Hancock smiled broadly and nodded at the doorman, a large, intimidating ghoul. The doorman shot an accusatory gaze at the newcomer. “Even if Hancock trusts you enough to behave yourself, I won't hesitate to throw you out on your ass if you start anything in there,” he warned. “Don’t worry, Ham, she’s with me. I’m sure she’ll be on her best behavior,” he assured, clutching Evelyn’s side protectively. 

“Hold up, doll, more stairs,” Hancock breathed. “I gotta take a break.” He pulled a tin out of his breast pocket, removed a couple of tablets and popped one after the other into his mouth. He held the tin out to Evelyn to offer her some, but she shook her head in polite refusal. “Not a fan of Mentats, huh? I like ‘em. They make me feel, well, intellectual. Also a good pick-me-up for those occasions when I have to pick up other people.”

“Huh?” Evelyn asked, looking at him with brows furrowed inquisitively. Before she could get an answer, he scooped her up into his arms and carried her down the stairs.

“Didn’t want you putting anymore unnecessary strain on that leg,” he winked.

“Oh, I’m sure,” she smirked back at him. “Now, tell me, just how many incapacitated women have you carried down these stairs?”

“Enough to have gotten pretty good at it, I’d say.” When they reached the bottom of the stairs, he set her back onto her feet and led her to a plush, red couch. “Wait here a tic. What’s your poison?” he asked.

“Gwinnett Pale if they have it. I’ll open the bottle,” she said, still not entirely sure if she could trust Hancock or anyone else in this town.

“The cautious type, I see. I like it,” he smiled as he walked to the bar. Evelyn stared at her leg absentmindedly for a moment before looking up to see the glares of about 5 other women in the bar directed at her. _Guess he’s got some fans_ , she thought. She looked back and forth between all of them and puffed her chest and shoulders abruptly forward in a display of aggression. The women all turned their heads back around to mind their own business. Hancock returned a moment later with her beer and a neon blue cocktail with a mutfruit wedged onto the rim.

“What the hell is _that?_ ” she asked, one eyebrow cocked curiously.

“Quantum and vodka,” he replied, passing Evelyn her unopened beer. “We’ve taken to calling it a Quantum Leap. Can’t say it’s the most original name, but it stuck, and the way Charlie pours 'em, two or three will knock you on your ass, so the name doesn't matter much anyway.” Evelyn twisted the cap off her beer and put it into the satchel that hung from her belt loop. She took a sip and shuddered. It was tepid and had a rancid taste to it. _I guess it makes sense that it tastes a little skunky,_ she thought. Not one to be rude or to waste beer, she chugged it as quickly as she could. “Damn, thirsty! Guess we’re having a party tonight!” Hancock laughed. “You want another one?”

“ _NO!_ No, uh…no, thank you. I think I’ll have a Nuka and Bourbon, if you don’t mind,” Evelyn replied, breathing a sigh of relief as he nodded and stood up to retrieve something that might not taste like centuries-old nuclear dumpster juice. She watched his every movement intently. Apparently sensing her eyes on him, Hancock turned to the side and held his hands up so that Evelyn could see his Mr. Handy bartender pouring the drink. _Okay, maybe he can be trusted._ She smiled and thanked the ghoul when he came back, plopped down on the couch next to her and handed her the glass.

“So you were going to tell me how a fine specimen such as yourself is old enough to remember the untold glory of the Statehouse in its wonder years, right?” he asked, one arm across the back of the couch, ankle propped over his knee.

“It’s a long story.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I had originally called Hancock’s drink of choice the Blue Devil after my car that bore the same name, but it seemed a little out of place, so I changed it. Carry on!


	4. It's a Long Story

It was October 23, 2077. Evelyn sat at the kitchen table, thumbing through the newspaper. Gas prices had reached an all-time high and the battle for resources was coming to a head. _War never changes._ She perked up at the sound of her brand new, top-of-the-line Mr. Handy unit, Codsworth, offering a fresh cup of hot coffee. “Here you are, mum! Brewed to perfection: 173° Fahrenheit, no cream or sugar.”

“Thank you, Codsworth,” she smiled, taking a sip as she finished her plate of eggs. She smiled as a pair of strong arms wrapped her in a tight embrace. “Finally up, Nate? I’m surprised you lasted in Anchorage as long as you did with how heavy a sleeper you are.”

“What can I say, beautiful? I’m enjoying my leave,” her husband responded, taking her hand into his own and gently peppering it with kisses. He released her, picked up the cup of coffee that Codsworth had left for him – two sugars with cream - and brought it to his lips as he ran his finger along the latest issue of _Grognak the Barbarian_ that lay on the counter. “Babe, when did you get this?” he asked, a wide, childlike grin spread across his face.

“Earlier when I was at the grocery store. I thought it would appeal to your inner 12-year-old,” she said, a warm smile playing on her lips. Her husband may have been a hardened war machine, but he was still the goofy nerd she’d fallen for in high school. Evelyn admired the vision before her and took a moment to appreciate the life they’d built together. Her law degree and Nate’s time in the Army had really paid off. They were among the minority that could afford to own a home, a vehicle and a steady supply of groceries. They had just welcomed a new member to the family a few months prior, a baby boy who began to wail from his crib in the other room.

“Oh, my! Sounds like someone’s made a stinky! Don’t worry yourself, Miss Evelyn, I’ll take care of it at once,” Codsworth announced as he hovered down the hall.

“You know, I’m glad we got Codsworth,” Nate beamed. “He’s really good with Shaun.”

“I agree. He’ll be especially helpful with the housekeeping when we have to go back to work,” Evelyn replied, setting down her newspaper. She got up from her seat to leave her empty cup in the sink but was stopped halfway by her husband pulling her in for a kiss. She giggled softly against his lips, smiling as he pulled her in tighter. At that moment, Evelyn suddenly couldn’t shake the feeling that something in the air felt strange.

The two nearly jumped out of their skins when the doorbell jostled them back into reality. “Christ, it’s that salesman again. He’s been asking for you for a couple of days now,” Nate groaned. “Guess you’d better answer it, babe. I’ll go check on Shaun.” Evelyn gave her husband a peck on the cheek before she moved to open the front door. She was greeted by a jittery middle-aged man in a beige trench coat.

“Good morning, madam! Vault-Tec calling!” the representative announced buoyantly. “I’m here to inform you that you have been pre-approved for a highly coveted reservation in the local vault: Vault 111,” he smiled, his hand tracing an arch in the air just above his head. “Let me assure you that you’ll want to secure the safety of your family in the event of total atomic annihilation. The ‘big one’ may be closer than you think.”

“Well, alright, sign me up,” Evelyn replied, wanting to get this guy out of her doorway so she could go about her business. She scribbled down the information in the required fields and handed the representative his clipboard. She smiled and shut the door as the man tipped his hat to bid her farewell. She sighed heavily as she made her way down the hall into her newborn son’s room. “No price is too high to ensure our safety, I suppose. I just signed up for a spot in the vault,” she told her husband, who was gently rocking their infant in his arms. She twiddled her fingers gently over the infant’s tiny belly, swelling with pride as he giggled madly at her touch. “Just look at him, Nate. The picture of perfection.”

“Just like his dad,” Nate grinned. Evelyn shot him a dubious smirk and took Shaun into her arms.

“Sir, Mum! You’d better come take a look at this!” Codsworth beckoned them, a tone of what could only be described as panic in his mechanical voice.

Nate and Evelyn stood in front of the television, mouths agape in sheer horror. The newscaster spoke in an ominous tone of confirmed nuclear detonations in Philadelphia and New York. It was only a matter of time before a nuclear attack in the Boston area might occur. Evelyn bolted out the door with her baby in her arms, screaming at Nate to follow. They had little time to make it to the vault. Nate and Evelyn followed their small crowd of neighbors through the wooded park where the two of them had taken countless moonlight strolls together. Evelyn briefly remembered the night Shaun had been conceived against one of those trees. A new path had been created that led to a fenced area, at the center of which was a large, circular platform. Evelyn stopped at the gate to inform the guard that she and her family were on the list. The guard cleared her to move to the center of the platform. She held her husband and son close, their son shrieking in panic. “I love you, Evelyn,” Nate stammered just as a blinding flash of light overtook the southern sky. “Take cover!”

*****

Evelyn paused to take a drink and looked to her side to see that Hancock’s chin was now propped in his hands, elbows resting on his knees as he listened intently. She took a deep breath and continued.

“When we got there, the doctors assured us that after we had put on our jumpsuits we would be cleaned up in the ‘decontamination chambers’. I had Nate hold the baby. I gave them one last kiss before I got into the pod and then it got cold…I never saw them again…that is, until…” she trailed, taking a heftier sip of her cocktail. “Until I woke up. My cryostasis chamber was defrosting, but it was locked. I could see Nate and our son from the small window in front of me. There was a man and a woman standing in front of their pod. They opened the hatch. I beat relentlessly at the door, hoping they could see me and let me out to be with my family, but the man shot and killed my husband. And Shaun…they took my baby.” Tears were now beginning to well in her eyes. She wiped them away, her composure returning to her.

“I got a lead on who the man is. A detective in Diamond City thinks that my husband’s murderer is a man who goes by the name of Kellogg. That’s why I’m looking for this MacCready guy. I may need an assassin watching my back when I confront him, Hancock. I have to track him down. I don’t know where he is or what he’s done to my son, but what little experience I have with him tells me that he’s dangerous.”

“Damn, sister. That’s some heavy shit,” Hancock sighed, taking a jet canister from his pocket and huffing it. _This guy sure enjoys his chems,_ Evelyn thought to herself. “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know. I can front you some medical supplies and ammo, maybe some better protective gear if you need it. Whatever you need, just say the word.” He was so thoughtful and generous, and to a complete stranger. He’d taken her into his care, shown her a night on the town, and now he was offering her supplies. She hoped they could remain friends if she lived through the inevitable confrontation with the man who had kidnapped her baby.

Evelyn paused, biting her lip, as the thought crossed her mind that she was in need of a distraction.

“Well, Hancock, if I’m completely honest, there _is_ something that I need, if you’re willing…something I haven’t had in over two centuries,” she trailed off as she tentatively rested a hand on his thigh. The wide grin on his face told her that he would happily oblige.


	5. John and Evelyn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!

Once they made it back to the second floor of the Old Statehouse, Hancock all but threw Evelyn onto the couch in his office and locked the door behind him. He wasted no time in removing his coat and the American flag tied around his waist. Evelyn was busy unlacing her boots, more than a little excited about getting some action for the first time since she emerged from the vault. She stopped short when a shirtless Hancock came to his knees in front of her, propping her bad leg over his shoulder and pulling the laces through the eyelets of her boots. “Gotta be careful with that leg, doll,” he said, gently pulling her boot off and kissing her ankle. A shiver went up Evelyn’s spine. He was attentive, a sign that he would be a generous lover. She felt an ache at the pit of her stomach at the thought.

Hancock slithered gracefully up the length of her torso to her neck where he gently grazed his teeth, breathing heavily onto her skin. Evelyn took a sharp breath and sighed, hands tight on his back as she pulled him closer. He let out a quiet moan against her ear as he rubbed his bare chest against her vault suit. He slinked one hand behind her head to grab a handful of black hair, pulling back to expose the length of her porcelain neck. Hancock ran his tongue over the remnants of his lower lip before nipping gently at the delicate skin of her neck, then took the zipper of her suit between his teeth. Evelyn’s breath hitched as he pulled the zipper down to her waist using only his mouth. _This is going to be a hell of a night._ She wiggled her arms free of her sleeves and pulled the suit below her waist, kicking it in a heap on the floor next to her. Hancock straightened up and leaned back, reading every curve of her body as though he needed to memorize it for later. “Don’t mind me, just admiring the view,” he purred as he sunk his fingers into the curves of her hips to pull down her underwear.

Evelyn made a move to unbutton Hancock’s trousers but he jutted back and teased, “Ah, ah, ah, I am nothing if not a gentleman. Ladies first.” With that, he buried his face between her legs. Evelyn let out a hiss as he grazed his teeth over her clit, running his tongue between her lips and repeatedly encircling it over the sensitive nub. Her chest heaved as she felt waves of tingling pleasure engulfing her.

Hancock slid two fingers inside of her and straightened his back to bring his face closer to hers, pumping his hand slowly in and out. His lips met hers as he pushed a third finger in. He opened his mouth to swallow her moan and allow her to push her tongue against his. He pulled away and gazed momentarily into her pale blue eyes.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, removing his fingers to pull down his trousers and underwear. “Not sure a knockout such as yourself wants to wake up next to this ugly mug in the morning.”

Evelyn smiled earnestly. “You’re not ugly, Hancock. You have the most beautiful soul of anyone I’ve met since I left the vault. I want you,” she sighed.

Hancock smiled and pushed himself inside of her, a collective shiver moving over both of their bodies at the feeling. As he pumped in and out, Evelyn rocked her hips up and down to encourage him to reach the sweet spot in her depths. They embraced each other desperately, Evelyn’s legs wrapping more tightly around Hancock’s waist as he increased his speed and intensity. The room was a sea of sighs and moans. Evelyn dug her nails into Hancock’s shoulder blades and screamed as a wave of pleasure rocked her to her core. He pushed himself in slowly, as deep as he could, as a spasm overtook her body.

“ _John…_ ” she purred.

At the sound of his name, Hancock removed himself and spilled on her inner thigh. “Damn,” he panted, “I probably could’ve kept going if you didn’t have that sexy voice, you siren,” he muttered, struggling to catch his breath.

Evelyn shrugged and gave him a chuckle. He smirked and wiped the sticky mess off her leg with his shirt, after which she laid back on the couch with Hancock’s head on her belly, arms wrapped around her muscular thighs.

As they drifted off to sleep, Hancock spoke up. “Think we can do that again before you leave, dollface?”

“I’d like that, Hancock.”


	6. Tour of the Town

The next morning, Evelyn awoke on the couch alone, draped in a blanket. She winced when she sat upright, feeling a stiffness in her neck from her head resting on the arm of a couch for six hours. “Sorry about the sleeping arrangement last night, doll,” she heard Hancock’s raspy voice from a few feet away. She turned her head to see him at his desk, diligently sorting through a smattering of files. “We can get you situated in a bed tonight. Whether or not you’d like me to share it with you is your choice.”

Evelyn smiled. As flirtatious and promiscuous as Hancock appeared, he was certainly considerate of her feelings. She was beginning to wish that she could stay in Goodneighbor with him longer, to get to know him better and to enjoy more nights like the last. However, she knew better. She needed to find Shaun.

Evelyn’s face contorted into a disgusted sneer when she removed her bandages. Her leg was a rainbow of yellow, purple and green, a curve of stitches wrapped in an oval around her calf. She hovered her hand over the sensitive skin. It didn’t feel hot or look red or inflamed, so she let out a sigh of relief that it wasn’t infected. As she stood up to retrieve her first aid kit, Hancock spun around in his chair and protested, “No, no, let me get it for you. Just kick back and relax for the morning. You need more rest.” He got up to rustle through the kit until he found a roll of gauze and some antiseptic that Doctor Amari had left with her. He tore off a piece of the gauze and soaked it in antiseptic. “Sorry if it stings, doll,” he shrugged as he gently dabbed the gauze over her stitches.

Evelyn winced a little. “It’s alright, I’m a big girl. If I can survive an attack from a dog half the size of Boston, I think I can live through a little sting.” Hancock stuck her ankle with a stimpak before replacing her bandages, taping them off and leaving a gentle kiss on the tape. The logical part of Evelyn’s mind told her that the stimpak was working wonders for the healing process as the dull pain in her leg diminished, but her heart secretly believed that Hancock’s tenderness was helping, too. “Hey, Hancock, where can I buy some armor and medical supplies? I should take care of that sometime today before you introduce me to MacCready.”

“Well, Daisy, my ghoulfriend who’s taking care of your canine companion, has a shop where we can get your armor and some stimpaks. If you need to stock up on ammo, KL-E-0’s your gal. Don’t worry about spending your hard-earned caps while you’re in Goodneighbor today. A mother trying to find her son will probably need every cap she can scrounge up in the Commonwealth. I’ve got you covered,” Hancock said, holding a hand up to silence her protest. “I insist. Now, you relax for an hour or so while I get the mess on my desk straightened up and we’ll head out. There’s a set of clothes for you to change into on the table. They seemed like they might fit you; if not, we can go back to Daisy’s and trade ‘em for something else. You’re going to want to ditch that vault suit. While I can’t deny that you look good enough to eat when you’re in it, it makes you a moving target up here on the surface.”

Evelyn’s cheeks flushed pink. “I appreciate your generosity, Hancock. I do have one request, though. Whatever MacCready wants to charge me to watch my back, I’ll cover myself, for personal reasons. I’m sure you understand.”

“I understand completely, Evelyn,” he replied, walking back over to his desk to finish off his work for the day.

The color of her cheeks deepened, a stark contrast to the pallor of her skin. He hadn’t called her by her name until now. Anxious to occupy her mind with different thoughts, Evelyn slipped into the black leather pants and jacket Hancock had left for her. They fit snugly, like a glove. Hancock appeared to have an uncanny talent for sizing people up, it seemed. “Hancock, I can’t thank you enough for your help,” she said quietly. “I hope one day I can return the favor if you’re in a pinch.” She picked her Pip-Boy up off the floor and strapped it back onto her wrist. “I think I’ll go crazy if I stick around in here too long, though. I’m going to take a look around. I’ll take it easy, I promise.”

Hancock turned his head to face her. “Well, alright. Be careful. I’ll come find ya when I’m done here.”

Evelyn felt like she looked less out of place in her new road leathers as she stepped out of the Statehouse into the streets of Goodneighbor. Her bandaged leg was covered, now, so it gave her some peace of mind knowing she wasn’t walking around unfamiliar territory with a visible weakness. A quick glance around the square revealed two shops side by side that she hadn’t noticed when she first arrived. She walked to the one closest to the Statehouse, a shop by the name, Kill or Be Killed. She peered inside and warily eyed the intimidating robot at the counter. Evelyn could recall running like hell from a similar model on her journey through the Commonwealth.

“Don’t worry,” its sexy, soothing voice assured her. “I only test the weapons on customers I don’t like. Designation KL-E-0: fully independent small business owner.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, KL-E-0,” Evelyn smiled weakly, her nerves beginning to settle. “Do you sell .308 rounds? I need 100 caps worth.” The sleek robot obliged, giving her 50 rounds at a discount for clearing Goodneighbor of its resident scumbag. Evelyn accepted the merchandise with gratitude, but shifted a little on her heels in curiosity. She was anxious to know the robot’s model name. “Not to be rude, KL-E-0, but…what are you?”

“I’m a woman, baby. Can’t you tell?”

Evelyn choked back a bemused laugh. _Of course you are, baby._ She lifted her hand and gave KL-E-0 a quick wave of farewell. “Thanks, girl.” Struggling to hold her newly acquired ammunition, Evelyn made her way to the next shop, hoping that perhaps the retailer had a more ergonomic pack, as the one she’d been lugging around put undue strain on her shoulder. She limped through the threshold and heard a whimper, followed by the clumsy sound of clawed feet tumbling down the stairs. “Dogmeat!” she squealed as the shepherd tackled her to the floor, greeting her with a barrage of kisses. Evelyn smiled from ear to ear, rubbing her hand over Dogmeat’s fluffy neck. She looked up to see a petite female ghoul staring at her with a satisfied smile.

“You must be Daisy,” Evelyn sighed contentedly. “I wanted to thank you for taking care of my dog last night.”

“Don’t worry yourself about it, honey. A ghoul can get awful lonely living up in that room by herself with only an Assaultron for a next-door neighbor. I enjoyed the company,” Daisy assured her.

 _Assaultron. I need to remember that._ Evelyn stood up, careful to shift her weight to the left. “I’m glad you’re running this shop here, Daisy. I’m looking for a pack with a belt – something I can strap to myself instead of carrying it over my shoulder.”

“Well, I think you’re in luck, sweetie. My ‘distributor,’ if that’s what you want to call him, picked something off a Raider and brought it in last week. I think it may be exactly what you’re looking for.” Daisy turned around to rummage through a chest of goods. Evelyn appreciated the woman’s southern drawl. It reminded her of her mother’s. All her life she’d been thankful she hadn’t picked it up, but suddenly she thought about just how much she missed it. “Ah-ha! Here it is.”

Evelyn gasped when she saw it. She couldn’t have asked for a better way to haul things around. It was a harness pack with two belts: one for her waist and one to wrap around her thigh. She handed Daisy the ten caps required to purchase it and stuffed her ammunition in with room for a couple of stimpaks and a bag or two of food to spare. “Daisy, is there anything I can do to repay you for taking care of my dog?” she asked, tightening a belt around her thigh.

“Well, now that you mention it, super mutants have taken over the Boston Public Library. It’s a tragedy, really, those brutes taking my childhood refuge hostage. I used to love perusing the shelves before the war,” Daisy mused. “But don’t mind my rambling. You clear those super mutants out whenever you like and we’ll call it even. Oh, and, call me sentimental, but could you return this book for me? It’s only about 200 years overdue.”

“Daisy,” Evelyn started, “you’ve been around since before the war? You might not believe me, but I have, too. I came from a cryogenic pod in Vault 111. It’s good to find someone I can talk to about centuries old things. I hope we meet again.” She was just starting to continue exploring the town when Daisy piped up.

“You should let me keep your pup for another night,” the pre-war ghoul smirked mischievously. “Wouldn’t want him interrupting a night with Mayor Hancock, would you?”

Evelyn stopped dead in her tracks and blushed a deep shade of scarlet. She managed to stammer, “I don’t think that’s a bad idea at all, Miss Daisy. You…you have a good day.” She then limped hilariously quickly around a corner and plopped down onto a bench in front of the Third Rail. She rubbed her temples with her thumb and middle finger, mildly embarrassed that last night’s rendezvous was no secret. _Oh, well,_ she thought, _Can't take it back, now._

“You’re not special, you know,” a smug voice sneered.

“What’s your point?” Evelyn replied, her eyes shut hard behind her hand. She had a headache as it was without having one of Hancock’s old flames harassing her. “I’m not in the mood for a cat fight, so can you leave me alone?” She took her hand away from her face and tilted her head up to see Fahrenheit looming in front of her.

“We all know the mayor will fuck any humanoid that's still breathing, so don’t get any ideas about receiving any special treatment while you’re here. You’re going to have to prove your worth just like anybody else. Hancock might have doe eyes for you now, but in the end, you’re just another pussy with a pulse.”

“Well, Fahrenheit, while I agree that I’m not anything special, it’s pretty clear to me that Mayor Hancock thinks I’m something else, since he wore my ‘pussy with a pulse’ like a hockey mask last night instead of yours,” Evelyn spat back. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll take my leave of your gracious presence.”

Fahrenheit scoffed repugnantly as Evelyn, satisfied with her catty retort, sauntered away. Whether or not Fahrenheit’s reasoning for verbally accosting her publicly was because of some unrequited attraction to Mayor Hancock was none of her concern, but it felt good to tell her off anyway. She, herself, was in no position to hope that he had any feelings for her. She was in too fragile a state to consider attempting a relationship. Even though the passage of time since her husband’s murder was at that point an unknown length, it still felt fresh to her. She felt bad enough about sleeping with another man and didn’t need the burden of developing feelings for him. She’d squeeze in another night of passion before heading out and if something were to develop after she returned one day, she would deal with it then.

For right now, however, Evelyn had a date with a ghoul and a gun.


	7. Insufferable

Hancock and Evelyn spent a good portion of the day stocking up on any supplies that would fit in her shoulder bag, reluctant as she was to carry it now that she had her new leg pack, which was also filled to the brim with ammo, stimpaks and Rad-X. Evelyn made a mental note that it wouldn’t hurt to keep an eye out for another satchel to strap to her other leg, which was feeling significantly better, albeit bruised all to hell from her knee to her ankle. She said a silent prayer of thanks to the surprising medical advances of the Commonwealth that produced stimpaks.

Before they were to meet the mercenary at the Third Rail, the mayor ensured that Evelyn wouldn’t leave Goodneighbor without an acceptable set of lightweight metal armor and a less worn pair of combat boots for the long journey ahead. She thanked him once again for his generosity and pulled him into a tight, tearful embrace. His kindness to her had been her one saving grace in her time on the surface.

MacCready, however, was another story entirely.

“200 caps, upfront. That’s my retainer. Any caps, supplies, weapons or ammo we find out there, we split 50/50. I’ll make it 60/40 and charge an extra 100 caps if you rub me the wrong way or if you do anything reckless and put our lives in unnecessary danger,” the young mercenary said between puffs of his cigarette. “I’ll spot you ammo if you need it, but I’ll expect to be compensated for it.”

They stood in the back room of the Third Rail, a soft, red glow tinting the walls. Evelyn studied the hardened features of the young man standing before her. She wasn’t sure if it was the lighting accentuating the hard lines on his face or if his time as a mercenary had aged him beyond his years. He couldn’t have been much older than 20, but his face bore the stern features of someone in their mid-30s. Whatever the case, if the rumors about his aim were true, his price was surprisingly fair. Evelyn tossed a small satchel of caps into his hand, not even bothering to talk him down.

“Here you go, MacCready. Pack what you can and rest up. We leave at dawn. Get ready for a long walk tomorrow,” Evelyn commanded, making her high expectations of the young man clear.

MacCready smiled, a big, obnoxious grin. “Pleasure doing business with you, boss. I’ll meet you at the gate first thing in the morning.”

Evelyn and Hancock left the back room and sat down at the bar next to each other, a rich tone of jazz vocals filling the room. Evelyn admired the beautiful woman on stage, slightly envious of her life as a singer. _Six years of voice lessons to become a chain smoking lawyer._ She turned her attention to Whitechapel Charlie, the Mr. Handy bartender, and ordered a Nuka and Bourbon. Hancock ordered his usual Quantum Leap. “Told you you’d need a drink to meet that guy, didn’t I?” Hancock asked, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

“Yeah, he is kind of insufferable. As long as he gets the job done, though, I don’t care how uptight and annoying he is,” Evelyn nodded, accepting her drink. She rotated the glass a few times, swirling its contents to marry them better. Hancock pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and lit two at a time, handing one to Evelyn. “Thanks,” she sighed, gazing into nothing and allowing her mind to drift to thoughts of the day ahead. “Hey, Hancock?”

“Got my attention,” he replied, a cloud of cigarette smoke escaping his lips.

“I want to stay here longer, to get to know you better, but you understand that I have some urgent matters to attend to. I’d like to come back when I’m able to. Are you going to forget about me by the time I can?”

“After a night like last night, how could I?”

Evelyn smiled. “You’re a real charmer, John Hancock. I have to get some sleep before morning. Care to tuck me in?”

“You got it, doll.”


	8. Get Your Gun

The next morning, Evelyn awoke before the sun came up, lying naked next to Hancock’s sleeping form. She ran a hand over his upper arm, cherishing every bump and groove in his skin. It was a lot softer than she had imagined it would be. She let out a heavy sigh and pushed herself off the bed to get dressed. As she strapped on the last of her armor, her pack and her Pip-Boy, she heard Hancock shift in bed.

“Wish you didn’t have to go so soon, Evelyn,” he grunted, stretching his arms over his head as he sat up. “You always know where to find me.”

“I’ll come back,” she assured him, shifting the pack on her thigh and slinging her other bag over her shoulder. She noted that she and the mercenary would have to make a pit stop at the library to get rid of the overdue book that was taking up valuable real estate in her pack. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“Can’t make any promises,” Hancock smirked. “You just come back here in one piece and show me a good time again.”

“Can’t make any promises. Hope I’ll see you around, John.” There was an air of finality in the room. Neither of them were entirely sure that Evelyn would come back alive.

“Tell MacCready to take care of you, doll. Mayor’s orders,” Hancock said as farewell. Evelyn nodded, having no intention of relaying the message. She left without a kiss or an embrace. It would have been too much emotional strain on both of them. She walked with significantly more ease than her leg had allowed the past couple of days down the staircase and out of the Statehouse.

When she opened the door, the first thing she saw in the wee hours before dawn was the mercenary, sitting on the bench in front of Kill or Be Killed with a cigarette dangling from his lips. Dogmeat was sitting patiently next to him, tongue hanging out of his mouth, before he noticed his mistress and bounded over to her. “Looks like you’re feeling better, huh, buddy? You ready to track down a scumbag? Huh? You ready to rip his throat out? Who’s a good boy? _Who’s a good boy?_ ” MacCready coughed to get her attention and she walked over to sit on the bench next to him, asking if he had another cigarette to spare. He obliged, handing her a cigarette and a lighter.

“Alright, MacCready, here’s the plan. We need to get to Diamond City by mid-afternoon, but we have to take a pit stop at the Boston Public Library. I need to do a favor for a friend,” Evelyn instructed.

“As long as you keep supplying caps, I don’t give a shi...crap…what the plan is,” the young mercenary replied staunchly, taking one last pull of his cigarette before stamping it out on the ground. “I expect you’ll pay me back for any smokes you bum off me, too. This one’s a freebie.”

Evelyn let out an exasperated sigh. “Fair enough,” she said, just wanting to take a few minutes to relax before they set off. “Have you eaten yet? I have a couple sweet rolls and some jerky we can share before we leave.”

“I’m fine. Unlike yourself, I wasn’t focused on getting ‘political favors’ last night and I came to the rendezvous point prepared,” he quipped, standing up to wait for her by the gate.

_Holy shit, at this rate I’ll wind up choking this bastard out before we even make it up the street._ Evelyn stuffed her food back into her pack, suddenly having lost her appetite, and stood up to face him. “Now listen here, you little shit,” she snapped, her face inches from his and a finger stabbing into his chest, “the company I keep behind closed doors is none of your concern. I’m paying you to aim your gun and shoot, not to deal with any of your fucking sass. You and I will get along well as long as we get one thing straight: I am your boss, now. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you unless you’d prefer to go hungry.” She backed away from him and headed for the front gate, rifle in hand, her dog at her side. “We’re splitting it up 60/40 in my favor until you impress me. You can take it or leave it.”

Had MacCready not been desperate for caps, he might have told her to buzz off and throw her caps back at her. However, in his current situation, he needed every cap he could earn. He let out a petulant sigh and followed her out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one's a little short and the name of the chapter is a little half-assed. I might expand on it later if I have an epiphany.


	9. Make It Count

When they stepped out the gate, they both crouched low to the ground. “Any way to skirt around the mutants?” Evelyn whispered, peering around a corner to the place where she had been severely injured no less than a few days prior. “I don’t want to encounter any more than I absolutely have to.”

“Well, we could take the scenic route. There’s quite a bit of debris and a few scattered Raider gangs along the way, so it could set us back a few hours, if we’re lucky.”

Evelyn sighed. At least someone was there to help her take them out this time. “Get ready to attack, then. Time for some long overdue pest control.” Surveying the scene, Evelyn spotted a building with a fire escape ladder. “How good a shot are you, MacCready?” she whispered.

“Didn’t you hear about my talents as far away as Diamond City?” he scoffed. “I never miss a headshot.”

Evelyn pressed her middle and index fingers to her temple to squash the headache this arrogant prick was giving her. “Okay, then,” she replied, proceeding to point to the fire escape. “Get up there as quietly as you can and start picking them off. If you can, take out any and all mutant hounds you see first. I don’t want to get held back again. Second, get the one with the assault rifle. I’ll pick it up if I can and kill the ones I can up close while you keep shooting from your vantage point. Is that clear?”

“Crystal,” MacCready nodded curtly, sneaking over to the fire escape. Evelyn watched intently as he slowly, quietly padded his way to the second story and pulled his binoculars to his eyes to watch for a signal. Evelyn peered around the corner to scope them out. There were two super mutants guarding the front of the building and a mutant hound sniffing at a shopping basket full of bloody tissue and organs. She had to keep herself from retching at the sight. 

She looked up towards MacCready and pointed two fingers at the hound. She peered around the corner again and watched as, one by one, the hound and both super mutants collapsed, dead as doornails. She looked back at MacCready, mouth agape, and gave him a thumbs up before skirting the walls to the assault rifle one of the mutants had dropped. She fished around the body and found limited ammunition. _Better make it count_ , she thought as bullets from MacCready’s sniper rifle whizzed through the air, picking off a few of the mutants on the higher levels of the crumbled remains of the tower.

Evelyn took a deep breath and straightened up to run headlong into the building. Dogmeat ran ahead of her, growling and snarling madly, and latched his teeth onto the forearm of a super mutant that had been carrying a minigun. Evelyn shot at it repeatedly with her newly acquired assault rifle, turning to take out another one that was barreling down a flight of stairs. This was going far more smoothly than her first encounter here.

When all was said and done, MacCready and Evelyn began rummaging through the wreckage for anything they could find – caps, medical supplies, weapons, food, anything that could help them along the way. Evelyn picked up the minigun one of the mutants had dropped and beckoned MacCready over to her.

“So, are you impressed? Told you I was a good shot,” MacCready grinned boastfully.

“Yeah, yeah, don’t get too cocky, Mac,” Evelyn chuckled. “Listen, you’ve proven yourself to me for now. I take back what I said earlier. We’ll split the spoils down the middle. We should take some of these weapons back to KL-E-0 to see how many caps and ammo we can get in return. Now that the mutants are gone from here, the path to the library is a lot clearer.”

“Sounds good to me.”

They came back out of Goodneighbor, stocked with plenty of ammo and caps. Evelyn handed MacCready a cloth baggie overstuffed with 400 caps. “I added a little extra for proving yourself today. You’ve earned it.”

MacCready grinned back at her. Maybe this lady wasn’t so bad, after all.


	10. Getting Along

“Alright, pay up.”

It had been a hard day. Clearing the super mutants out of the library had taken significantly longer than they had anticipated, but the two came out for the most part unscathed, save a few cuts and bruises. Evelyn had come dangerously close to getting whacked upside the head with a spiked board, but MacCready’s sharp aim felled her assailant just in the nick of time. After they completed their business at the library, the two encountered several other inconvenient obstacles on the way back to Diamond City, including several Raider gangs, a smattering of feral ghouls, and a pack of wild mongrels. It had been past sundown when they finally made it to their destination, several hours behind schedule.

Now, they sat on the hard concrete floor of the shack that Evelyn had bought in Diamond City after getting compensated for a few odd jobs around town. Evelyn spilled the day’s loot from her shoulder bag onto the floor: several rounds of ammunition, scattered bits of food, a couple of hot plates, and a pile of caps littered the space between them. Evelyn split the caps accordingly and set aside the ammunition they wouldn’t be using anytime soon, neatly arranging it all in a crate. She picked up the hot plates and plugged them into a nearby wall outlet.

The silence between them was palpable. Evelyn wracked her brain to think of something, anything to say that could alleviate the uncomfortable tension filling the room. She opened two cans of pork n’ beans, setting them onto the ceramic discs of the hot plates, and sat down cross-legged in front of MacCready, who was still counting out his share of the caps and stuffing them into one of his coat pockets.

“Not a bad haul for our first day working together, huh?” Evelyn asked with a weak smile. The mercenary looked at her for a moment and shrugged before returning to his task. “Listen, Mac, I wanted to thank you for saving my ass earlier today. I know that taking you into a super mutants’ den wasn’t exactly what you signed up for, but I appreciate your work. You’re really good at what you do.”

“If I hadn’t saved you, I wouldn’t be getting paid right now, would I? End of story,” he replied, standing up and plopping onto a raggedy red couch a few feet away. He stretched across its length, crossed his arms, and tipped his hat over his eyes.

“You didn’t want to eat anything?” Evelyn asked with furrowed brows, spooning the food into a couple of bowls off of which she had wiped as much dust as she could.

“Just leave me alone. I’ll eat in the morning,” MacCready grunted, turning over to face the back of the couch.

Evelyn let out an exasperated groan. Just when she thought their interactions might become somewhat tolerable, he retreated back into solitude. “Hey, just what the hell is your problem?” she demanded, “I thought we were getting along pretty well up until now. What gives?” MacCready tensed his shoulders, pretending he didn’t hear her. She walked over to the couch and smacked the hat off of his head. “Hey! Answer me!”

MacCready sat up and retrieved his hat from the floor. “We’re not friends,” he replied coldly, their two pairs of ice blue eyes shooting daggers between them, “so stop trying to warm up to me.”

Evelyn sighed and set MacCready’s share of food onto a wobbly end table that sat next to the couch. “I’m not trying to be anything but a decent employer, MacCready. I point, you shoot. You shoot, you get paid. Part of your payment includes having a hot meal and a safe place to sleep for tonight. Maybe you should be a little more grateful for those things, because after today, you can say goodbye to those luxuries for the indeterminable future.” She plopped a spoon into his bowl, deliberately splashing some of its contents onto the arm of his jacket. “If you don’t want it, you can give it to the dog,” she sneered. Dogmeat, who was lying diligently next to the door, picked his head up and perked his ears.

MacCready reluctantly picked up his bowl and the two of them ate in silence, occasionally shooting each other fleeting glances. Finally, as they were finishing their meals, MacCready decided to speak up. “Look, I know I’m an ass…uh…a bit of a jerk,” he began, setting his empty bowl onto the end table. Evelyn lifted her head to listen, eyebrows raised in agreement. “I just have trouble letting people in. You’ve been pretty fair to me so far, which is a lot more than I can say for some of my previous employers. Not everyone hires someone to shoot people and holds them to a high esteem. I shouldn’t have this attitude toward you, but it’s a habit. I hope you understand. I’m sorry.”

Evelyn tried to hold back the smile that was tugging at her lips, but couldn’t help herself when it spread across her face. “I understand, Mac," she sighed. "I accept your apology. Just try to get some rest. We need to meet up with Nick bright and early tomorrow. I intend to find the bastard that took my son first thing in the morning.” MacCready watched her as she walked up the rickety staircase to her bed.

The mercenary sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes, clutching something in his breast pocket. She hadn’t really told him why she had hired him in the first place, but now that he knew that it was for her child, there was suddenly more purpose and motivation for him to continue. He pulled a small wooden figure out of his pocket, a wide grimace spread across his face and tears welling up in his eyes. Her words echoed in his mind over and over.

“ _My son…_ ”


	11. Into the Abyss

Evelyn and MacCready stood in front of an ominous, looming fortress. _Fort Hagen_. The place had an eerie feel to it. Dogmeat had led them to this point using only a half-smoked San Francisco Sunlight and a blood soaked bandage as a means to track Kellogg down. Evelyn sighed as she pulled a package of mole rat chunks out of her bag and laid them on the ground next to the shepherd. “Stand watch, boy. I’m counting on you,” she whispered, fighting back tears at the thought that she might never see her dog again after today. “MacCready,” she began, a solitary tear fighting its way down to her jaw. “If I don’t make it out of here, run. Take my dog and get out of here.”

MacCready, showing the first sign of sympathy she had seen since meeting him, wrapped one arm around her back and cupped her shoulder in his hand. “Hey, with me watching your back, there’s no way you won’t make it out of here,” he said reassuringly. “We’ll choke the information out of this Kellogg ass…idiot…if we have to.”

Evelyn cocked an eyebrow and smiled at him, wiping the tear from her face with the back of her hand. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into him to change his attitude, but she was beginning to enjoy it. “You know you can swear around me, right, fuck face?” she jested, playfully nudging his chest with her fist. “I may have a few years on you, but I’m not your grandma, you know.”

MacCready sighed, “That’s a long story. I’ll explain it to you another time. For now, let’s find our way in there so we can find out what happened to your kid.” He crouched down to scratch Dogmeat behind the ears and the two of them set forth to scale the perimeter to find a way in, Evelyn leading the way. After rendering a few machine gun turrets useless, the two found an entrance to the building on the roof. They each took a deep breath as they opened the hatch to begin their descent into hell.

There seemed to be millions of them. Synth after synth, coming out of the shadows in droves, shooting at them through the walls, sneaking up from around the corners. It was like they were being mass produced in a factory under their feet. Evelyn felt like she was going crazy. “Ugh, where are they all coming from?” she groaned, tightly gripping a chunk of her hair in her fist. “We’re wasting ammo! And _of course_ these useless hunks of scrap don’t have any rounds on them we could actually use! No! Just these stupid, weenie laser guns! _Pew-pew-pew!_ Fuck!”

She pulled a bottle of water out of her bag, sparks flying a few feet away from the last of the synths they had obliterated. After taking a few generous swigs, she offered the rest to MacCready, a gesture he eagerly accepted. After he finished it and set down the empty bottle, his eyes darted to a shadowed corner of the room – a metal chamber connected to a computer terminal. “Hey, Evelyn,” he whispered, nudging her on the shoulder. She whipped her head around to face him as he pointed to the corner. “Check it out. Are you any good with computers?”

“Well, I can’t say it was ever really my strong suit. Why? Do you think there could be something useful in there?”

“There’s only one way to find out. Give it a shot. I’ll stand guard.”

Evelyn nodded and began tapping the keys of the terminal. After about five minutes of trying to crack the code, the computer shut down. She sighed in exasperation, but decided to give it one more try before giving up. When it rebooted, she decided it would be worth it to take her time, scanning carefully over the figures on the screen that she could interpret. Finally, a cheerful beep from the terminal revealed her success. She and MacCready then stepped into the cage, boxes of ammunition and crates filled to the brim with grenades as their reward. The two of them grinned like kids in a candy store as they stuffed their pockets with whatever they could carry.

They sidled carefully, side-by-side, with their backs against the wall, until they found a stair well. They padded tentatively down the stairs, MacCready peering through his scope when they turned a corner and pulling the trigger, cutting off a synth that had begun to charge at them. Evelyn swallowed the lump in her throat as she heard a taunting voice on the intercom. “You. I’m surprised you made it this far. Turn around and get out while you still can,” the raspy voice reverberated through the hall.

“He’s down here somewhere,” she whispered, clutching MacCready’s upper arm as though she would never experience human contact again. “I’ll understand if you want to leave me here.”

“And miss out on this golden opportunity? No way!” he smiled back at her, trying his best to settle her nerves. “Besides, you still owe me for the body count I racked up today.” He pulled her into a tight embrace, not entirely sure how things would go once they reached the man behind the intercom. A cold chill crept up his spine as he couldn’t shake the feeling that one of them might not survive. “We’ll make it out of here. Now, come on and let’s get this over with. This place is giving me the creeps.”

Evelyn and MacCready fought their way through a labyrinth of machine gun turrets, synthetic beings and gut wrenching laughter over the intercoms. It was like the funhouse from hell. Finally, they descended a small staircase that led to the most well-lit, almost comfortable room they had seen since descending the ladder from the roof. There was a neatly made hospital bed sitting in the middle of the room with a cooler on a table next to it. Evelyn opened the cooler to find a Nuka Cola. Fearing that this would be her final taste of something sweet, she popped the cap, handed it to MacCready and downed the bottle in moments. She pulled the rifle off her back, prepared for war.

She turned her head to her hired gun, a look of determination in her eyes. Her voice betrayed her as she choked, “Let’s put this motherfucker down.”


	12. Confrontation

“I’m done playing games with you, you mercenary motherfucker! Where is my son?”

Evelyn stood across from the man she had seen repeatedly in her nightmares, her rifle pointed downward but her finger playing at the trigger. They were surrounded by a small army of synths, all standing at attention, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. MacCready was standing in the doorway, looking from one end of the room to the other to determine where to strike first should the conversation in front of him take a turn for the worst.

Kellogg shrugged, a sickening grin spread across his smug face. “Don’t worry, you’ll die knowing that he’s happy and cared for. A little older than you might have expected, yes, but he’s well loved. He’s made a home for himself at the Institute.”

“I’ll find him. But first,” Evelyn chuckled, gripping her rifle tightly, “I’m going to redecorate this room with your insides.” She squeezed the trigger, firing a shot into his left side before he disappeared into thin air. “What the _fuck?_ ” Evelyn shouted in frustration. 

She ducked under a desk, bullets and lasers penetrating the air around her as she fumbled around her pack for a grenade. As she pulled one out, she glanced around the room. MacCready appeared to be holding his own against the synths, but they were closing in on him at an alarming rate. Evelyn pulled the safety pin and rolled the grenade to the edge of the metallic crowd at the other end of the room. “Mac! Duck!” she shouted, moments before the explosion tore through the air. She caught a glimpse of Kellogg’s whereabouts as flames and shrapnel manipulated the space around him. Whatever cloaking device he was using merely reflected his surroundings, making him harder to see. 

She quickly fired a shot at his leg and bolted out from under the desk, shouldering her rifle and brandishing her sword in one fluid motion. She felt something pierce her left shoulder as she ran towards him, but didn’t waver. She lifted her sword over her head, a searing pain coursing through her arm, and brought it crashing down into Kellogg’s neck. In spurts of glitches, Kellogg began to reappear. Blood spewed from his mouth as he growled, “See you in hell, you bitch.”

Kellogg raised his pistol and pointed it at Evelyn’s head just before a shot rang across the room and a bullet tore through his forehead, leaving his brains a splattered mess across the floor. As quickly as he’d spoken, he dropped dead, his pistol clattering beside him on the floor. Evelyn, shaken by the sudden silence surrounding her, kneeled down to pick the pistol up and shove it into her bag. She hugged her knees to her chest and sucked in a sharp breath. The pain in her shoulder and the devastation of knowing her son’s location overtook her and she sobbed into her knees.

MacCready’s hurried footsteps echoed against the walls as he shouted something that Evelyn could barely hear against the ringing in her ears. She felt his hand on her back as he crouched next to her. “Evelyn. Evelyn! Speak to me! Are you okay?” he shouted as he shook her by the shoulder, panic evident in his voice.

Evelyn picked her head up and stared at him, tears streaming down her red, puffy face. “The Institute has him…they have my baby,” she choked between labored breaths. “Now what am I going to do?” A strained wail escaped her as she threw her arms around MacCready’s neck and sobbed against his shoulder. He rubbed his hand over her back as he scanned their surroundings for any possible clues that could help Evelyn in her search for her son. His eyes locked on a couple of tiny blue sparks next to Kellogg’s head.

“Hey,” he whispered, patting her on the back. “Check it out. There’s something next to him.”

Evelyn’s breathing stabilized as she picked her head up to look. She hissed in pain when she pulled away from their embrace, now realizing that a bullet had ripped through her shoulder. She inched her way to Kellogg’s head on her knees and picked up a kidney-shaped mechanical object out of his scattered brain matter. “What the hell is this?” she muttered, turning it over in her hands. “He was barely human.”

MacCready examined the blood stains on his jacket and looked at Evelyn’s crimson stained shoulder. “Do you have your med kit? We need to get that slug out of your shoulder and patch you up before you bleed out.”

Evelyn pulled a stimpak from the med kit that she’d fished out of her pack and pushed the needle into her shoulder. “Let’s just bandage it up for now to stop the bleeding. If I’m to believe what I’ve heard, there should be a vault somewhere just southeast of here,” she winced, tossing the spent stimpak to the floor and checking their coordinates on her Pip-Boy. “It’s a long shot, but with any hope, they have a doctor that can extract the bullet better than we can.”

MacCready sighed and chuckled as he rummaged through Evelyn’s med kit, pulling out a wad of gauze and a roll of bandaging strips. “You’re insane, you know that?” He unbuckled her chest and arm pieces, setting them neatly on the floor beside them and moved her jacket and shirt out of the way. He pressed the gauze firmly against her shoulder and wrapped her up, his hands lingering briefly on her skin when he finished. “I should charge you extra for the medical attention, but I’m feeling generous today,” he smirked. “You need me to carry anything for you?”

“Nah,” she replied, zipping her jacket back up. “Just put my armor back on and we’ll head out.”

He did as he was told and helped her up as they prepared to leave. It occurred to him now that Evelyn was not one to be crossed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ready for a slow burn? Because I sure am. It occurred to me as I was writing this chapter that I'm not really the best at portraying intense action scenes. Any feedback I can get to improve it would be greatly appreciated.


	13. New Friends

After about an hour’s trek, Dogmeat darted ahead of Evelyn and MacCready as they approached a fenced off enclosure. Dogmeat sniffed the dead grass at the gate and barked, tongue wagging proudly at his discovery. MacCready pushed the wire gate open with a loud creak and led Evelyn through. With each passing moment, she became more and more pale, a dewy sweat overcoming her face and neck. “You think it’s here?” he asked, slinging her arm over his neck as her legs began to wobble beneath her.

Evelyn lifted her Pip-Boy with difficulty and checked the map. “I think so. Look, there’s someone over there.” The two hobbled over to a skinny woman with sallow, sunken facial features. She had the build of someone in her late teens, but rampant chem use appeared to have sped the aging process to the point that she had the face of a middle-aged woman.

“You need a weapon?” the girl croaked with a crazed grin. “If it can chamber, cock and spit out lead, then I sell it. I sell slashers and clobberers, too, for those maniacs that like it up close. Name’s Cricket, at your service.”

“Maybe later,” MacCready replied, shifting Evelyn’s weight on his shoulder. “Is there a vault nearby?”

“Yeah, right through that cave,” Cricket grumbled. “Good luck getting in, though. They don’t take too kindly to visitors.”

MacCready hauled Evelyn to the entrance without saying another word. “You know, I feel a lot safer with a rocky ceiling over my head,” he remarked as his eyes drifted around the cavernous space outside the vault. They stopped short at a large, beeping mass of technology that he didn’t understand. 

“What the heck is this?” he muttered, his face contorted in confusion. “Can we talk to them through this thing?”

Evelyn freed her arm from his neck and pulled a plug out of her Pip-Boy with a shaking hand. “It’s our way in,” she strained as she inserted the plug into the outlet in front of her. A series of loud alarms echoed across the wide space for a few moments before they suddenly came to a halt and a stern voice came in through the intercom.

“Listen, I don’t know who you are or how you got your hands on a Pip-Boy, but we’re not taking visitors right now. You’d best be on your way, stranger,” the man growled.

MacCready, visibly irritated, chimed in, “Hey, my friend is hurt. She needs a doctor right away!” Evelyn smiled weakly. That was the first time she could recall being referred to as MacCready’s friend.

“Oh, yeah, I haven’t heard that one before,” the disembodied voice replied sarcastically. “Take your bullshit story and move along – “

The man was interrupted by the distant voice of a woman. They bickered amongst themselves for a few moments before the woman took over the intercom. “We can help, but we need something in return. If you can bring us three fusion cores, we’ll let you in.”

MacCready let out a petulant groan. “I must be fu…friggin’ stupid,” he muttered, motioning for Evelyn to have a seat in a nearby swivel chair. Dogmeat rested his head in Evelyn’s lap, a concerned whimper escaping his snout. “Wait here. I’ll be right back,” MacCready assured her before darting out of the cave.

He trotted outside, hoping the chem-addled ammo peddler was still at her post. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw her. He checked his pockets, reluctant to spend his caps or to give up the two fusion cores he had been saving for a rainy day, but knowing that if he didn’t make a sacrifice that his new friend was in danger of meeting her end.

“Hey!” he piped as he approached her. “You sell fusion cores?”

“Only for you, handsome,” Cricket leered, causing the skin on MacCready’s back to crawl. “300 caps. Take it or leave it.”

MacCready grunted in distaste as he begrudgingly handed her three separate bags of 100 caps each in exchange for the fusion core. He nodded his head and turned back to head into the vault. When he got inside, he frowned at Evelyn and said, “You owe me, big time.” She beamed in response as he pressed a button to communicate with the vault dwellers. “Alright, I’ve got your fusion cores,” he barked. “Now let us in!”

He helped Evelyn out of the chair as the noisy mechanical groans and hydraulic spurts of the massive vault door reverberated through the alcove. The two of them sauntered to the entrance, met by a woman with auburn hair tied back in a professional knot. “Allow me to apologize for my associate’s abrasive welcome,” she began. “You understand, however, that not all visitors have good intentions. The fusion cores, please?”

MacCready dipped his hands into his pockets and handed her all three, muttering watered down profanities to himself. “You got what you wanted, now hurry up and get her to a doctor,” he growled.

“Very well,” the blue clad woman said before introducing herself as Overseer McNamara. She led them through the halls of the vault to a sickly sterile room with a hospital bed. A man with a white lab coat stood in the center and shifted his attention from his clipboard to the trio as they approached the open doorway. “Doctor Forsythe,” the Overseer chimed importantly as the three of them passed the threshold. “These two are from the surface. The lady is wounded and, from the looks of it, she may need a blood transfusion. See to it that she’s taken care of.”

MacCready helped Evelyn onto the hospital bed and assisted in removing her armor and jacket for the second time that day, hauling each piece to the opposite corner of the room. He stood in the corner in silence, fist clenched to his lips as Doctor Forsythe removed Evelyn’s shirt to assess the damage done to her shoulder. MacCready blushed and looked away as he caught himself staring at the smooth, pale skin of Evelyn’s pronounced collar bone. 

The doctor gently pawed at the wound, separating the folds of exposed tissue. “You should consider yourself fortunate,” he announced. “The bullet came within a centimeter of your subclavian artery. If whoever shot you had aimed just slightly more to his left, you wouldn’t be here with us right now.”

Evelyn watched as the doctor ambled across the room to retrieve a file from his desk. “Any chance you know your blood type?” he inquired skeptically, knowing that most surface dwellers weren’t even aware that blood even had a type.

“B positive,” she replied as the man ran his fingers down the length of the file.

Doctor Forsythe disappeared into a separate room and emerged with a tourniquet, alcohol swabs, a blood pack and a drip kit. He hung the bag from an IV pole, connected the tubing and bled the line until there was no air left, then tied off Evelyn’s upper arm with the tourniquet to prod for a vein. He sterilized the site of venipuncture and quickly inserted the needle, allowing some of her blood to flow to the end of the fistula before twisting off the caps and connecting the tubes, gradually easing open the roller clamp and tapping any air bubbles into the blood pack. He monitored Evelyn for a few minutes as the color returned to her face.

“It seems you’re responding well to the transfusion,” Doctor Forsythe proclaimed. “Now we can move on to extracting the bullet.”

About 20 minutes later, the bloody .44 caliber bullet sat on a nearby surgical tray and the skin of Evelyn’s shoulder was neatly stitched. Doctor Forsythe pushed a stimpak into her upper arm and discarded the needle and casing into a sharps container. “Looks like you’re in the clear,” he smiled. “You two should talk to Overseer McNamara about the room available at the other end of the vault,” he said, scribbling a note on a piece of paper. “Give her this if she protests. She can’t deny a doctor’s orders for a patient to stay put until she’s healed.”

Evelyn pulled her bloodied white shirt back over her head and shook the doctor’s hand, leaving a modest satchel of caps in his hand. “Thank you for your kindness,” she whispered. With that, she and MacCready collected her armor and jacket and proceeded to McNamara’s office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the depiction of Evelyn’s blood transfusion was a little monotonous. I’m a phlebotomist, so I tend to get a little overzealous about anything to do with blood and putting needles in people.


	14. Getting Comfortable

Fortunately for them, the Overseer was willing to allow them to spend a few nights in the only unoccupied room in the vault. Evelyn and MacCready unloaded their gear into a pristine chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of clean vault suits. “I never thought I’d have to wear one of these again,” Evelyn mused as she pulled her shirt over her head.

“You’re not really the modest type, are you?” MacCready smirked as he unclipped the spare bullets from his thigh. Evelyn caught herself staring at his legs as he did so, watching as the muscles of his inner thigh rippled against his pant leg with every movement. She quickly averted her gaze when he picked his head up and announced that they should each take a shower and wash their clothes before calling it a night.

Evelyn stood beneath the hot jets of water far longer than she probably should have, her thoughts flitting back and forth from the brief sight of MacCready’s muscular legs to the short time she had spent in his arms. Her mind then drifted to John Hancock in Goodneighbor and his expert hands and smooth tongue. She shook her head vigorously, trying to push her conflicting notions to the back of her mind as she rubbed a bar of soap over her body.

When she emerged, her thick, black hair soaking the shoulders of the clean vault suit she had borrowed, she had to choke back a laugh as she saw MacCready tugging at the tight blue fabric on his legs.

“Hey, pipe down!” he exclaimed, his cheeks visibly reddening. “This suit is uncomfortable enough as it is without you making fun of me.”

“Sorry, Mac,” Evelyn giggled, scooping up their clothes. “Let’s find a laundry room or something. I haven’t had anything clean to wear since my last vault suit.”

After they found the communal laundry room to wash and dry their clothes, Evelyn and MacCready took some time to explore the vault. A bright, red-headed boy by the name of Austin gave them the grand tour, taking the time to show them all the amenities provided by Vault 81, including a hydroponics lab, a barber shop and a cafeteria where they enjoyed a complimentary bowl of vegetable soup. He introduced the two of them to a few of the inhabitants as he ambled along, visibly swelling with pride as he did so. “See, Erin? I told you they were from the surface!” he bragged to a young girl along the way.

Evelyn and MacCready bid the young man farewell and set off to retrieve their laundry before calling it quits for the day. As they strolled back to the room they would share for the night, MacCready nudged Evelyn’s arm with his elbow to get her attention. “I have a favor to ask,” he whispered as they walked through the doorway.

“Anything, Mac. You’ve been through hell and back for me the past few days. The least I could do is help you out in return,” Evelyn replied, removing her Pip-Boy as she settled herself onto the clean bed.

As MacCready busied himself arranging some spare blankets he’d found in the chest of drawers into a makeshift bed for himself, he continued, “I don’t know if you remember a couple of assh…idiots, that is, at the Third Rail the night we met. A couple of meatheads dressed in green?” Evelyn shook her head, unable to recall two such men from that night. “Well, anyway, I’ll get to the point. I used to run with a band of killing machines called the Gunners. Those two guys, Winlock and Barnes, have been hounding me since I separated. They’ve been scaring away my clientele. The reason I’m such a tightwad about my caps is that I’ve been hoping to buy them out. Maybe if I give them enough, they’ll stay off my back.”

Evelyn shifted onto her side, propping her head up on her palm. “Why don’t we just ambush them and take them out? For all you know, they could keep the caps and put a bullet in your head to spite you. Best to remove that threat before they even have a chance, if you ask me,” she stated matter-of-factly.

MacCready stared up at her with a broad smile. “I knew I was beginning to like you for a reason,” he mused. “Whenever you’re ready, we’ll stock up on supplies and meet them at the Mass Pike Exchange before they even know what hit ‘em.” He shuffled around in his makeshift bed, trying to get comfortable as Evelyn turned off the light at her bedside.

“There’s enough room in this bed for both of us, Mac,” Evelyn spoke softly. “You don’t have to sleep on the floor if you don’t want to.”

MacCready got up and settled in beside her on the bed, his muscles tense, a lingering feeling in his stomach that this experience might be inappropriate, however grateful he was to have a soft place to sleep for the night. He swallowed a lump in his throat and all but squeaked, “You can call me Robert, Evelyn.”

“Robert,” she trailed off with a yawn as she dropped an arm over his chest and buried her face into his shoulder. “I like that. Goodnight.”

MacCready continued to lie still, wide-eyed and as stiff as a board, for well over an hour before he could finally relax enough to fall sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This might be the last chapter I post for a few days. I'll probably spend a little time tweaking the chapters I've already posted before writing the next one.


	15. Keep Playing

It was Christmas morning, 2076. Evelyn awoke shortly after the sun came up, the smell of her favorite holiday treat, cinnamon cocoa, filling the air. She ran her palm over the empty space in the bed next to her. Nate was already up and about, probably anxious to exchange their presents.

She stretched her arms above her head and gathered a clean set of clothes from the closet, preparing to take a shower. As she headed for the bathroom to begin her morning routine, Nate called to her from the kitchen, preparing a breakfast of French toast and sausage links.

“Merry Christmas, honey!” he sang, “Ready to open your present?”

“Not just yet, babe,” she replied. “You know I can’t function without my morning shower.”

“Aw, come on, Evelyn! It’s Christmas! You don’t have to be anywhere special,” he whined. “Just come have breakfast and let’s open our presents, then you can do whatever you want for the rest of the day.”

Evelyn sighed. He always knew just how to bend her will. She set her fresh clothes down on the modest bathroom counter and sauntered down the hallway. Nate had already set their breakfast out on the table. His eyes darted over Evelyn’s body. “Me-yow, kitten. Have I ever told you just how flawless you look in that lingerie?” he purred.

Evelyn burst out laughing. “In my pajamas? Boy, I feel like a regular Jayne Mansfield.”

After they finished their meal, the two walked, hand in hand, to the living room, where they sat next to the Christmas tree. Two gifts sat beneath its branches: a large box with Evelyn’s name and a modestly sized one bearing Nate’s. As they’d just purchased their first home and a brand new Corvega, funds were a little too tight to overdo it that year. Evelyn opened hers first, tearing through the wrapping paper like yesterday’s news. Beneath the gift wrap was a brand new Mr. Handy unit. Evelyn squealed with joy and threw her arms around Nate’s neck.

“How on earth did you afford this?” she all but shrieked in his ear.

“Let’s just say I have my own private stash for such occasions,” Nate replied, wiggling his eyebrows. “Alright, my turn!” Nate pulled the wrapping paper off of his box more delicately than Evelyn had, almost as though he intended to use it later. When he pulled the box out of its wrappings, he grinned from ear to ear, his eyes glimmering and wide. Evelyn had gotten him the new RobCo game, Red Menace. 

“Babe, how did you know?” he beamed.

“I figured you’d enjoy playing a virtual simulation of fighting the big bad commies before you head back to Anchorage,” she giggled, running her fingers through his soft, brown hair. “Besides, we both know that you’re a huge nerd underneath all those rippling muscles,” she teased, kissing him on the jaw.

Evelyn nudged her way under Nate’s arm, resting her head on his chest. He was always radiating with a soft warmth. “You’ve made me the happiest woman alive, Nate,” she sighed blissfully. “I’m so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with you.” 

Nate kissed the top of her head before she gently grabbed his wrist to pull his hand under her pajama top to her stomach.

“I have another present for us, Nate.”

*****

Evelyn awoke from her dream to the flat aroma of sterility. Gone were the happy days of cinnamon cocoa, French toast and sausage, replaced by the sickly sweet smells of death, infrequent showers and nuclear fallout. She found herself a little disoriented, as she and MacCready were still lying on the bed in Vault 81, but currently bathed in a soft, green glow. She picked her head up off his shoulder and looked up to see a familiar image on her Pip-Boy.

“Did I wake you up?” MacCready asked, one arm still wrapped around Evelyn’s neck as he fiddled with the buttons and knobs. “I’m sorry. I’m used to only sleeping for a couple hours at a time and I found a game on your Pip-Boy. I turned the volume down, thinking maybe you wouldn’t hear it and wake up.”

“Red Menace,” Evelyn whispered. “A virtual simulation of fighting the big bad commies.”

“Commies, huh? I didn’t know that’s what I was doing, but it’s friggin’ awesome!” MacCready replied, a childlike grin spread across his face. “Let me finish this level and I’ll turn it off so you can go back to sleep.”

“No,” Evelyn sighed with an adoring smirk, laying her head back onto his shoulder to drift back to sleep. “Keep playing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I just realized I forgot about Dogmeat. Oops! I'm so used to sending him back to Sanctuary when I travel with someone else that I forgot to put him in the last couple of chapters. I'll edit him in before I post the next chapter.


	16. Long Road Ahead

When Evelyn woke up a few hours later, MacCready was still in the same spot, one arm wrapped around her neck with his hand cupped gingerly over her shoulder, staring up at the ceiling. As she stirred, his eyes darted to her.

“So, the beast has finally awakened from her slumber. Time to get out of here?” he smirked.

“I suppose so,” Evelyn said as she sat upright to stretch. “Listen, about our…impromptu sleeping arrangement…I hope I wasn’t too forward.”

“Nah,” he replied, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed. “It was nice. It’s been a few years since I’ve held anyone. I know I act like I want to be alone, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Being alone scares the heck out of me.”

Evelyn, seeing the pain in his face, nudged his arm with her elbow. “Well, as long as you stick with me, you’ll have a friend,” she assured him. “Now, let’s suit up and take out a couple of scum bags.”

After they changed out of their vault suits into their regular attire, the two spoke to Overseer McNamara and convinced her to allow Dogmeat to stay in the vault for a few days while they took care of business. Having purchased a few bottles of water from the cafeteria and some ammo from the general supply, they left the vault. 

Evelyn shielded her eyes from the sun and turned her gaze to the west. “Mass Pike Exchange is about a two-hour walk in that direction. Is there anything I should know about their base?” she inquired.

“They’re bound to be heavily fortified,” MacCready responded as they began trudging along towards their destination. “There are two lifts that’ll take us up to the base if we decide to take the direct approach. I’m not sure if there’s really any other way up there.”

Evelyn furrowed her brows, deep in thought. “We’re bound to be outnumbered. I can’t imagine that that would be the wisest course of action. Let’s walk parallel to the highway and see if we can find a stretch of road that’s still intact. If not, we’ll take the direct approach,” she declared, wiping beads of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.

“Are you serious?” MacCready moaned. “That could take all day!”

“I’d rather find a safe route there than wind up pumped full of lead,” Evelyn snapped. “I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer to survive the rest of the day.”

The two continued to walk westward in silence for a few hours before they looked up to see that there was an enormous gap in the highway that would have been impossible to jump across. There was a small housing development a few hundred yards away. At Evelyn’s suggestion, they crept towards it to stop for a break and to loot whatever items of value they could find. MacCready grabbed Evelyn’s arm and pulled her down to a crouch.

“Raiders, dead ahead. Three of them. Should be easy to pick ‘em off from here. You get the one at one o’clock and I’ll get the other ones,” he whispered. Evelyn nodded, impressed with his sharp eye and tact.

The two fired their shots and felled the Raiders before being seen. They waited in silence for about ten minutes before they were sure it was safe to move forward. When they reached the ramshackle house, Evelyn picked a leg pack similar to the one she had gotten from Daisy off of one of the Raiders. “Nice!” she exclaimed, pulling a bottle of vodka, two stimpaks and a small satchel of caps from its depths before strapping it to her leg. “Looks like we have a way to celebrate our victory after we take out Winlock and Barnes,” she smirked, shaking the half-empty bottle of vodka.

“Don’t get too excited,” MacCready cautioned, pulling two baggies of Brahmin jerky from his coat pocket and handing one to her. “Those two will probably have a small army of Gunners with them. I have faith in you and I trust you, but there’s a chance we won’t make it out of there alive.”

“Well,” Evelyn began, tearing a piece of jerky into her mouth. “If nothing else, we can have a few swigs on our death beds.”

MacCready laughed. “Always the optimist, aren’t you, boss?”

Evelyn and McCready finished up their modest lunch and headed off, this time going north. This route seemed significantly more promising, as there were, seemingly, no compromises along the highway. After another hour of walking, they rejoiced at finding a crumbling in the structure that led straight up to the highway above, well enough intact to climb. Just as they began their ascent, Evelyn looked to her right and saw a neon sign that read, _Fiddlers Green Estates._

“Hey,” she said, nudging MacCready’s shoulder and pointing at the sign. “I know that place. It’s a trailer park. We should stop there after we’re done and rest before we go back to the vault. Who knows? There might be some goodies there we can trade for supplies or caps.”

“Sounds good to me,” MacCready replied.

After another hour of walking, the two drew close to the Gunners’ base at Mass Pike Exchange. They ducked behind an overturned truck and took a moment to assess the situation. There were two machine gun turrets no less than a hundred feet away and about fifteen Gunners that they could immediately see. One of them wore a full suit of Power Armor and held a missile launcher.

“Shit,” Evelyn whispered, dragging her hand down her face. “This is a suicide mission. What’s the plan?”

“I hate to say this,” MacCready started quietly, “but we may need to split up. I’ll sneak over there and start picking off the grunts. You have pretty good aim. When you hear shots firing, start pumping the asshole in the Power Armor full of lead. Winlock and Barnes will probably hole up in one of their bunkers. We’ll put an end to them after we clear out the base.”

Evelyn nodded. She began to inspect her rifle to ensure it wouldn’t backfire but was stopped short when MacCready grabbed her chin and pressed his lips into hers. Her eyes widened in surprise but soon drifted shut as she parted her lips, allowing his tongue entry into her mouth. She pressed a hand onto the side of his face, tracing her thumb over his cheekbone before he pulled away.

“Just in case I don’t have another opportunity to do that,” MacCready grinned before sneaking off to his proposed vantage point.

 _Great, now I’m fucking distracted. Couldn’t have done that last night, could you?_ Evelyn peered over the truck, her heart pounding against her chest as a flurry of mixed emotions coursed through her mind. She was terrified, but at the same time felt a warmth in her heart that hadn’t been there since before it thawed out in Vault 111. 

Evelyn was startled out of her reverie when the first gunshot rang through the air. She quickly fired a shot at the nearest turret, shattering it into a ball of fire and shrapnel. She then pulled a grenade out of her pack, pulled the pin and tossed it straight at the Gunner in the Power Armor, and, as luck would have it, it fell right down the neck of the suit and blew the man inside to smithereens. Evelyn mouthed a silent proclamation of joy at her good fortune just before a mechanical voice chilled her to the bone.

“Hostile movement detected,” the voice declared. It was a voice similar to that of KL-E-0 in Goodneighbor.

_Fuck. It’s an Assaultron._


	17. Nice and Even

_Shit, shit, shit, what do I do?_

Evelyn darted to the left behind one of the Gunners’ barricades and fired a shot at the Gunner across from her, blowing the head clean off of his shoulders. She looked around the corner of the makeshift bunker that served as her shelter and saw to her horror that the Assaultron was charging toward MacCready. She sprinted as quickly as she could to the fallen Gunner in Power Armor and hauled his missile launcher onto her shoulder.

“Robert!” she screamed as she loaded a missile into the chamber. “Run!” MacCready ran as quickly as he could from the mechanical nightmare in front of him, hurdled over a barricade and ducked as the missile whizzed through the air, straight into the Assaultron’s head, rendering it immobile and lifeless. Evelyn rushed over to inspect him for injuries and set the missile launcher down next to them. Fortunately, there was only a small tear on the side of MacCready’s shirt where a bullet had grazed the skin on his ribs.

“Thank goodness you’re okay. That’s the last time we split up, Robert,” she scolded, pointing a finger at his face. “Let’s take care of the rest of these bastards. I promise I won’t leave your side.”

MacCready glanced between shots at Evelyn as they took out the remainder of the Gunners, each occasionally ducking behind the barricade to reload. He was beginning to admire her more and more with each passing shot. There was a fire, a furious passion in her eyes each time she squeezed the trigger. When the last Gunner scrambled up to her, a knife raised above his head to plunge it into her neck, Evelyn let out a guttural scream of pure rage and lunged the butt of her rifle into his jaw, knocking him unconscious. She stood upright, panting amidst the wreckage surrounding her, and sauntered around the barricade to repeatedly stomp the Gunner’s face, shattering his skull with her boot.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” MacCready exclaimed, pulling her away from the corpse. “Save that anger for Winlock and Barnes. Let’s put them out of their misery and get the heck out of here.”

The two of them approached the modest bunker that Evelyn had used to shelter herself from gunfire no less than 20 minutes before and opened the sliding door to find Winlock and Barnes, huddled up in their respective corners, ready to beg for their lives. Evelyn would hear none of it. She cracked the butt of her rifle repeatedly against Winlock’s skull as MacCready put a bullet into Barnes’s brain. Evelyn, satisfied only after Winlock’s face was unidentifiable and beaten to a bloody pulp, leaned against the thin metal wall and slumped to the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees.

“We did it!” MacCready exclaimed, sitting down next to Evelyn and wrapping an arm around her neck. “We took out an entire Gunner base, just the two of us! Evelyn, you took out a friggin’ _Assaultron!_ ” He paused to imitate the sound of an explosion with his mouth, which made Evelyn burst into laughter. 

“That was amazing! You’re something else, Evelyn,” MacCready smiled, scrubbing a joyful tear from his face. “I don’t know how to thank you after that display, but I want you to have this.” He pulled a bag of caps out of his pocket and set it down onto her lap. “It’s my retainer. I figure that, after what you did for me today, you deserve that and more. I don’t know what I can ever do to repay you for saving my life and my livelihood, but I guess this is a start.”

Evelyn smiled. “You don’t have to give me these. You needed help.”

MacCready shook his head, insisting that she take them back. “I like things to be nice and even, and you’re way ahead of me now, even after giving back my retainer. Besides, if we play our cards right, we stand to make a whole lot of money on our travels, anyway, right?”

“I guess you have a point,” Evelyn grunted as she pulled two water bottles from her pack. “Let’s get out of here before more Gunners show up. Besides, I want to get to that trailer park before the sun sets. We need a safe place to stay for the night and if we try to head for the vault right now, we might be followed and run the risk of putting the vault residents’ lives in jeopardy.” MacCready nodded in agreement and the two exited the bunker to start walking north.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, this one turned out shorter than I had intended. I'm thinking about expanding on it to make it more **action packed**. Also, let me just say that, no matter how much I level up my character, I fucking hate Assaultrons. Every time I play Fallout 4 and hear one of their sexy voices I get this unparalleled feeling of terror.
> 
> Also, I literally have no idea how an email address made it into the first edit. Weird. If you saw it, please don't use it. Kthx.


	18. Face Your Fears

The sun hung low in the sky as Evelyn and MacCready hiked up the hill to Fiddlers Green Estates. The neon green lettering of its sign glowed eerily in the twilight, setting an uncomfortable tone for the evening. MacCready delicately grazed Evelyn’s hand with his fingers, prompting her to lace her fingers with his. Evelyn’s heart skipped a beat as she realized that, perhaps, the kiss they had shared earlier might have meant something to the both of them.

MacCready held his free hand up to Evelyn’s chest to stop her dead in her tracks, a look of sheer terror fallen upon his face. “I don’t want to go in there,” he whispered ominously as his eyes darted back and forth across the park. “Let’s just go back to the vault or find somewhere else to stay.”

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows and looked around to see what had gotten MacCready so freaked out. “It’s just a few ferals, Robert. We can take them on, no problem,” she protested, freeing her hand from his to unsheathe her sword.

MacCready, however, was having none of it. “Please, Evelyn, I can’t lose you, too!” he cried, tears welling up in the corners of his eyes. “Where there are a few ferals, chances are there’s a hoard. They sneak out from the shadows, just waiting to tear you limb from limb. You’re the only friend I have left in the Commonwealth. Please, please listen to me.”

“If you’re so scared of ferals,” Evelyn drawled cockily, “Maybe you can hold my hand while I chop them all to bits. Just watch my back and we’ll be fine.”

MacCready glared and spoke through clenched teeth, “This isn’t funny, Evelyn. You shouldn’t take ferals as lightly as you are right now. You might scoff at a few of them, but they’re deadly in large numbers.”

“Do you really want to go wandering around the wastes after dark?” Evelyn hissed. “There are probably more ferals hobbling around between here and the vault, anyway. We’re going to lock ourselves into a trailer for the night after we eliminate the immediate threat, and that’s final.” She fished a container of Rad-X from her pack and popped one of the pills into her mouth, gulping it back with difficulty before offering one to MacCready.

MacCready sighed before taking the pill. “Alright,” he groaned reluctantly. “I really hope you know what you’re doing. Just know that if they swarm us, I’ll never be able to forgive myself if you die.” Evelyn smiled, that confident, reassuring smile that could convince the whole Commonwealth that everything would be alright in the face of total adversity, before burying her sword into a resting ghoul’s neck.

Evelyn and MacCready held their own fairly well against the feral ghouls, a few of which appeared to be resting or too withered to move anyway. They stood back to back, slicing and shooting the ghouls that approached them, producing a considerable pile of decaying, irradiated bodies.

Just as it seemed as though they would clear them out without much difficulty, they heard a blood-curdling screech, primal even by feral ghoul standards, coming from behind one of the trailers. They froze in terror as a ghoul, glowing a sickly green from gross exposure to radiation, crept out of hiding. It staggered forward, gaining the momentum to sprint at Evelyn and tackle her to the ground, knocking the sword out of her hand. MacCready grabbed the ghoul’s slimy arm, burning his hand in the process, and swung it far enough away that he had enough time to steady his rifle and fire a shot into its belly. The ghoul seemed unfazed and charged at him, pummeling headfirst into his shoulder and knocking him to the ground. He barely managed to clamber away from it long enough to pull the trigger and send a bullet into its hip.

Evelyn’s head was spinning. Everything was happening so fast. It was like the world was shattering around her all over again. She watched as MacCready darted back and forth out of the glowing ghoul’s relentless war path, wanting desperately to stand up and fight but feeling as though she needed to evacuate the meager contents of her stomach. Whether it was the Rad-X or the sight of the monster attacking her favorite mercenary making her feel this ill was up for debate, but she forced herself to focus and brought herself up to a kneel.

“Evelyn!” MacCready shouted, emptying the cartridge of his rifle into the creature in an attempt to slow it down. “Your sword! Go chop its head off or something! Just make it go away!”

Evelyn, forcing herself into a more clear-headed state, scrambled to pick up her sword and charged the glowing ghoul head-on, swinging the blade into its neck and lopping its head off, as per MacCready’s instruction. The two of them collapsed to their knees, panting, with sweat dripping from their brows.

“I told you we shouldn’t have come here,” MacCready spoke in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “What if there are more like that one? We have to get out of here.”

“No,” Evelyn huffed. “We just need to tread lightly. I know, Robert, I should have listened to you. My arrogance put your life in danger. We’ve come too far now, though, so let’s see if we can find anything useful in that office and hole up in one of the trailers. We’ll leave first thing in the morning, I promise.”

The two of them walked cautiously to a small, crumbling brick building in front of a dirty swimming pool filled with tarberries. Evelyn slowly pushed open the door, MacCready’s back to hers as he watched for another onslaught.

“There’s only one of them in here,” Evelyn whispered, careful not to wake the ghoul. “You stand watch while I kill it and try to find something we can use.” MacCready nodded and stood in the doorway, the nauseous sound of the feral ghoul’s throaty gasp behind him as Evelyn put an end to its misery. The coast seemed to be clear, so MacCready relaxed his shoulders while Evelyn rifled through the garbage in the desk and successfully picked the lock on the adjacent safe. She emerged a few minutes later with a magazine, an armful of empty cans and other assorted objects of no particular worth and a set of keys dangling from one of her fingers.

“Do you really need all that junk?” MacCready sneered inquisitively.

“Trust me, I have a plan for it. Now let’s start trying out the locks,” she replied, transferring some of the pile into MacCready’s arms.


	19. Confessions

After several unsuccessful attempts to find the trailer to which the set of keys belonged, they finally found the right one, disarming and pocketing two live fragmentation mines that sat on the path in front of it. “Someone really didn’t want anyone to get in here,” Evelyn chuckled, sliding open the door to be greeted with a partial suit of Power Armor. She dropped the load in her arms and grabbed desperately for her rifle, thinking that someone might still be inside of it, but allowed her arms to hang at her sides when she realized that it was vacant. She grinned from ear to ear, looking at MacCready like a kid on Christmas morning. “I knew there would be something cool at this trailer park, but I had no idea it would be anything like this!” she squealed, picking up the garbage she had dropped before they both entered the trailer and locked the door.

MacCready fished around the small kitchenette trying to find something edible while Evelyn tinkered with her pile of cans, duct tape and strings, and found two cans of Cram and a hot plate. He plugged the hot plate into a nearby outlet, thanking his lucky stars that the electricity in the trailer somehow still worked. “Hey, Ev,” he piped. “Got a Nuka Cola on you? If you fry Cram in it, it almost tastes like food.”

Evelyn, rigging up a primitive alarm on the door, turned her attention to MacCready and replied, “Yeah, come and get it. I’m almost done with this.” She pulled a Nuka Cola out of her shoulder bag that she had set on the floor next to her and resumed her task. MacCready shuffled over to her, squatting down to admire her handiwork.

“That’s pretty impressive,” he admitted, still kind of miffed that he wasted valuable energy carrying some of that crap around. “Does it work?” he asked, grabbing the Nuka Cola and heading back to his subpar cooking station to make what could barely pass for dinner.

Evelyn jiggled the door and the cans rattled loudly, the jarring noise bouncing off the metal walls of the trailer. “I’d say so, yes. This way, if there are anymore ferals out there and they try to get in, we’ll be alerted to their presence and can act quickly,” she declared, beginning to remove her Pip-Boy and the pieces of her armor.

After they choked down their food, Evelyn and MacCready nestled into the yellow sleeping bag on the floor, coming to the mutual conclusion that this might not be the best place to open that bottle of vodka that Evelyn was saving for their victory party. There was an intense, uncomfortable silence between them for several minutes before MacCready spoke up, clutching Evelyn’s body tightly in his arms.

“Listen, about earlier,” he began.

“When you kissed me? Don’t worry…“ Evelyn started before being interrupted.

“No, no, I don’t regret that for a second. I wanted to talk to you about the ferals…why I’m so afraid of them,” he whispered, the sound of pain and loss evident in his voice. Evelyn rolled over to face him, running her fingers through his hair, and nodded for him to continue.

“It was my wife, Lucy. We needed to find shelter for the night, so we picked an abandoned subway station. I should have known better,” he went on, choking back a sob. “We were hardly there an hour before they swarmed her, tearing her to pieces before my eyes. I tried to save her, tried to pull her out of there, but it was too late. I watched, frozen, as the life drained from her body. I barely made it out of there alive with our son, Duncan, in my arms. That was three years ago, and I still haven’t forgiven myself for letting her die.”

“There wasn’t anything you could do, Robert. At least you saved your son,” Evelyn trailed off. “That’s more than I can say for myself.”

MacCready buried his fingers in Evelyn’s hair and quavered, “I know we haven’t known each other very long, but you’ve earned my trust and my respect. You’re smart, funny and kind, even to me, even though I was a jerk to you when we first met. I feel like I can relate to you. You’re pretty easy on the eyes, too. What I’m trying to say is…well…I haven’t felt this way in a while.” He paused, realizing he had just laid all his feelings out on the table. “I’ll understand if you want to keep it platonic, but I kind of want something to eventually happen between us.”

Evelyn stared up at him in wide-eyed shock. She had figured that, maybe when he kissed her earlier, that it was just a last ditch effort at human contact before they met their doom at the hands of the Gunners. “Wow, Mac,” she whispered. “I’m not sure what to say. I lost someone, too. The man that kidnapped my son shot and killed my husband, Nate, before I was frozen again for an unknown length of time in that vault. It still feels like it happened just yesterday. I’m not sure if I’m ready to start anything serious right now, but you’ve definitely earned a place in my heart. Maybe, when I’ve had more time to heal, I’ll be ready emotionally.”

Evelyn sighed, feeling like an enormous weight was crushing her chest, squeezing all the air from her lungs as she whimpered, “I had sex with Mayor Hancock because I was lonely. I needed to feel wanted again, to feel secure. He was kind and generous and I enjoyed his company, but what it boils down to is that I used him for my own selfish needs. I don’t want to do the same thing to you.”

MacCready pulled Evelyn’s forehead to his lips, breathing in the scent of her hair as he rubbed his hand up and down her back. “We’ll just see what happens, then,” he murmured. “For the record, though, you can use me for your selfish needs anytime you want.”

MacCready let out a feigned yelp of pain as Evelyn playfully slapped his shoulder. The two of them then drifted off into a surprisingly quiet night of sleep.


	20. Madame

Evelyn awoke before MacCready the following morning, as of yet an unprecedented occurrence. She peered out the small window to check for ghouls. As far as she could tell, there were none to be found. She scoured the kitchen for anything caffeinated and found a small, mostly used container of instant coffee, immediately sacrificing her share of purified water to brew a couple of cups upon its discovery. She pulled an ancient package of Fancy Lads Snack Cakes from one of the cupboards and set them in the middle of the small breakfast table that sat uncomfortably close to the kitchenette.

Evelyn stepped over to MacCready, kneeling down to gently shake him awake. When his eyes fluttered open, he smiled and said, “Morning, boss. Nice to see we made it through the night.”

“We sure did,” she replied, guiding him to the table for their modest breakfast of coffee and junk food. “We better eat up now. We should head back to the Vault so we can pick up Dogmeat and head back to Sanctuary. I want to see if Sturges can make any sense out of that weird mechanical thing that came out of Kellogg’s head. Plus, with you watching my back, I think it’s only fair to let the poor pup stand guard there so he can get a little rest.”

“Uh…Sanctuary? Where the heck is that?” MacCready asked, popping a snack cake into his mouth and chasing it with a large gulp of coffee.

“It’s my home, several hours north of here,” Evelyn sighed. “So we’re in for another long trip, especially since we have to backtrack south to go to the vault. At least when we get there, we can eat some real food. I’m taking that Power Armor, too.”

“Don’t you think we can come back for it on the way back? All that walking’s going to drain the fusion core and you don’t know how much juice is left in it. We’ll hardly be gone a couple of hours and I highly doubt anyone will think to look here to steal a frame with only one piece each of arm and leg armor on it.”

“I’m not taking any chances. If I’m going to find Shaun, I need any edge I can get, and this is a,” she giggled a little bit as she drawled, “ _powerful_ edge.”

MacCready stared at her flatly, making it known that he wasn’t going to laugh at her silly pun. “It’s too early for dad jokes, Evelyn,” he muttered. “If you insist, take the dam – ugh – darn thing with you. You can figure out how to get a fusion core for it.”

The two headed south once again, out of the trailer park and back to Vault 81. Evelyn’s Power Armor suit creaked and groaned from years upon years of neglect. She made a mental note that she would need to find an oil can to lubricate the joints once they reached the general supply at the vault. There was a pleasant breeze stirring about the crisp, early morning air. For one fleeting moment, Evelyn could have sworn that she was back with Nate and Shaun, taking a stroll through the woods just outside of Sanctuary Hills. She snapped back to reality, desperate to come up with anything to distract her from the pain of her nostalgia.

“Robert,” she began, looking down to face MacCready as they soldiered along. He turned his eyes upward, wearing an inquisitive expression. “Where’s your son?” she asked tentatively.

Evelyn saw that she must have struck a nerve because MacCready’s shoulders visibly tensed and he hung his head for a moment before quietly saying, “I have friends looking after him in the Capital Wasteland. I came here hoping to find a safe place and…” he trailed off, biting his lower lip. Evelyn could tell that he wasn’t prepared to tell her the whole story. “Well, it was just too dangerous to bring him along until I could get a feel for the territory. Anyway, once I get enough caps together, I’m going to go back and get him. I’ll find a decent settlement for us and then he and I can take on the world, together again.”

“You and Duncan can stay in Sanctuary, if you like it. We have pretty good defenses set up and I can only imagine how it must have grown in my absence. I think you’ll like it,” she smiled, patting MacCready as gently on the back as she could with her hulking power armor hand.

When they finally reached Vault 81, it appeared as though one of the vault residents had taken a rare trip up to the surface. “Thank goodness, you’re here,” she wailed, raw panic evident in her shaking voice. “It’s Austin. He’s sick. Come in and Doctor Forsythe will explain it to you. Hurry!”

Evelyn and MacCready followed the woman back into the vault, Evelyn stopping for a moment to get out of her Power Armor so as not to drain the fusion core’s charge more than necessary. When they reached Doctor Forsythe’s office, Austin lay on the hospital bed, even paler than usual, his body shivering under his blankets. The doctor explained that Austin had followed the resident chem junkie, Bobby De Luca, into some secret area of the vault where he snuck off to shoot up. Austin had been bitten by an infected mole rat.

“We have reason to believe that there could be a cure in there, ma’am,” Doctor Forsythe spoke in a low, gravely tone. “Bobby said that it’s like a whole other vault on its own and that there are notes about diseases carried by mole rats. If you can go down there and try to find something and, at the very least, take care of the rodent problem, we’ll make it worth your while. We’ll pay any price we can to make sure Austin lives through this.”

“100 caps for extermination, and one of the fusion cores we gave you if I find Austin’s cure,” Evelyn replied without skipping a beat. MacCready’s head tilted to the side, his eyes wide as he scratched the back of his head. _Well I’ll be darned,_ he thought to himself. _She figured out how to get a fusion core for that thing, after all._

Doctor Forsythe begrudgingly replied, “I’ll have to speak with Overseer McNamara about the fusion core. We may just give you enough caps to buy one from the trader that hangs around outside the entrance at night.”

Bobby De Luca stood just outside the medical room, his head hung low, arms crossed over his chest. Evelyn tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. “I’ll take you as far as the entrance I found,” Bobby whispered. “Follow me.”

Bobby led Evelyn and MacCready to the reactor room of Vault 81, where there was a secret entrance to the neglected, crumbling ruins of what used to be a functional wing of the vault. As Bobby was about to take his leave, Evelyn chimed, “You should really talk to Doctor Forsythe about your chem problem. It wasn’t an issue before it started hurting other people.” Bobby eyed her, a look of sadness and shame spread over his face, and left without a word.

Evelyn and MacCready padded through the vault ruins, crushing the heads of about 20 mole rats with the butts of their rifles and their boots as they headed further in. Evelyn stopped occasionally when she heard the familiar voices of the vault residents over the dusty old intercoms leftover in the ruins or when she found any computer terminals, hoping to find a clue as to the whereabouts of a serum that could help Austin.

“Fucking Vault-Tec,” she muttered, tapping the keys on a terminal as she scanned over the information on the screen. “They kept the residents of Vault 81 in isolation so they could conduct experiments for medical research. A noble cause, were they not using human beings as test subjects. They planned on killing everyone in the vault by means of incineration when given the all clear. My god…” Evelyn rubbed her hand over the back of her head. “Let’s keep moving,” she whispered.

Evelyn and MacCready wandered the halls of the secret vault, finding the lab specimen cages containing abnormally strong breeds of mole rats and pummeling every last one of them until they were all eliminated without a shadow of a doubt. They entered a large hall at the end of the vault containing three overturned lockers, each with a vase of wilted flowers at its end. “Coffins,” Evelyn gasped. “These must be Vault-Tec’s research professors.”

“Excuse me! ‘Ello, Madame!” a sweet, French accented voice rang over an intercom. Evelyn turned her attention to a Miss Nanny bot on the other side of a nearby window. “Are you Vault-Tec security? I ‘ave been waiting 83 years for ze clearance to release me from my confines. I am ‘appy to report zat I ‘ave completed my medical research.”

“Uh…yep!” Evelyn lied. “Vault-Tec security, at your service. Go ahead and open the door.”

After the Nanny bot opened the sliding door, she introduced herself as “Contagions Vulnerability Robotic Infirmary Engineer,” or “CVRIE,” pronounced the same way as the chemist, Marie Curie, who conducted research on radioactivity. Curie handed Evelyn a syringe filled with a serum that, as she explained it, could cure any disease known to mankind. There were, however, insufficient materials left in the vault to replicate it.

Evelyn, MacCready and Curie all stepped into an elevator that would lead them to the residential section of Vault 81. All the while, MacCready was visibly withdrawn, completely occupied by his own thoughts. He was mulling over the possibility that they could just abandon the vault and take the serum for themselves without being noticed.

When they reached the main floor of Vault 81, Evelyn bolted ahead of MacCready and Curie to the medical room, where Austin still lay on the bed, still shaky and feverish. MacCready stood in the doorway and watched as Evelyn handed the serum that could cure any disease to the doctor. His heart sunk. A feeling of betrayal washed over him, making him feel lower than a radroach. He turned around and leaned against the wall, arms crossed defensively over his chest.

Evelyn emerged a few minutes later, bearing an air of joyous triumph. “I got the fusion core and the caps,” she sang. “Let’s head out of here. We’re going to take Curie with us. I think she could be a valuable asset at Sanctuary.”

MacCready glared at her, a look of spite in his eyes, shrugged his shoulders and walked away. “I’ll meet you outside,” he muttered.

Evelyn watched him with furrowed brows before walking the opposite direction to retrieve her Power Armor. _What the hell is his problem?_


	21. The Cold Shoulder

Evelyn couldn’t understand what had provoked such a dramatic, tense shift in their dynamic. They had been on the road towards Sanctuary for the past three hours but it seemed like the only one speaking to her was the fucking robot. _Is Robert just uncomfortable around Curie? Did I do something wrong?_ The thoughts ate away at her gradually as she ignored her new robotic friend’s ceaseless chattering. MacCready had been keeping his distance, his pace several feet behind hers and Curie’s. Dogmeat trotted alongside him as though he knew the mercenary needed companionship. Evelyn decided that whatever was bothering him could be discussed once they reached their destination.

The sun was beginning to set as the group stepped onto the bridge crossing the creek to Sanctuary Hills. Dogmeat bolted ahead of them and tackled Preston Garvey of the Commonwealth minutemen, who was standing guard at his post. “Hey, boy!” the man said affectionately, “Did you take care of the General? Yes? Good boy!” He produced a piece of jerky from his pocket and handed it to the dog, who scarfed it down like he hadn’t eaten in months.

“What’s the word, Preston?” Evelyn asked as she approached him.

“It’s been pretty quiet in your absence, General. As you can tell, Sturges and I have been working to beef up security by installing two new machine gun turrets. As our food supply increases, we need all the protection we can get before we’re noticed by the Commonwealth’s undesirables.” Preston shifted his gaze to Curie and the mercenary, eyeing them skeptically. “I see you made some new friends. Think they can pull their weight around here?”

Evelyn gestured toward Curie. “Curie here is a Nanny bot designed specifically for medical research. She can act as the town doctor as long as we provide her with whatever resources she needs for her studies. As for MacCready,” she said, turning her head to smile at him, “Whether he wants to stay here or not is up for debate, but until we head out again, he’s a damn good shot.”

MacCready, even at her kind words, still continued to frown, though he didn’t look quite as irritated as before. He glanced around the settlement. It was an enormous step up from the Capital Wastes, at least. He decided, for once in his life, to let down his guard and shake hands with Preston Garvey. “If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know,” he said before walking up the street to get a better look at the settlement.

“Yeah, sure, I’ll catch up to you later!” Evelyn called after him, clearly more than a little annoyed at being on the receiving end of the cold shoulder. She let out an exasperated sigh and turned her attention back to Preston. “Do you know where Sturges is? Maybe he can help me identify some tech I found.”

After she left her Power Armor at the repair station by the common house, Evelyn eventually found Sturges, who didn’t know what to make of the piece of tech she showed him. Piper, however, the reporter from Diamond City who had followed her to Sanctuary to try life outside the shantytown that was formerly Fenway Park, had an idea. “You found that on Kellogg? Meaning he was a synth? I have a feeling that, if anyone you can trust would know how to make sense of that thing, it would be Nick,” she chirped. “If you want to go to Diamond City to ask him about it, I’ll tag along. I should probably check up on Nat to see how she’s holding up without me.”

“Guess we need to pay him a visit then,” Evelyn shrugged. She caught a glimpse of MacCready out of the corner of her eye. He was standing by the mutfruit patch, facing the creek. “I’ll get back to you on that. Pack whatever you need so you can be ready to head out in the morning if that’s what we need to do. I’ll let you know later tonight.”

Evelyn approached MacCready cautiously, hoping he was finally ready to let her know what was on his mind. “Cap for your thoughts?” she asked gently. He simply shrugged his shoulders in reply. “Hey, what gives, Mac? Why have you been ignoring me all day? Did I do something to piss you off?”

MacCready sighed and took a bite from the mutfruit he’d picked earlier. “I know this is going to sound stupid,” he muttered, “and I know I haven’t been treating you fairly today. It’s just that I had hoped we could have kept that serum that you gave away at Vault 81.”

Evelyn furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. “What use would we have had for it? If you wanted me to sell it, I’ll tell you right now, there’s no way in hell I’d prioritize a few caps over the life of a helpless kid,” she hissed, visibly angry at the thought.

“It’s not that,” he replied somberly. “It’s Duncan. He’s sick. One day he was out playing in the fields and the next day, blue boils started popping up all over his body. The last time I saw him, he was almost too weak to walk. I know you had no way of knowing, and it was stupid of me to think that you would.”

Evelyn was suddenly fuming with anger. “So you just left your sick boy in the Capital Wastes? What kind of father are you?” she spat.

“And what kind of mother are you, helping out some mercenary and a bunch of vault dwellers you don’t even know when you’re supposed to be looking for your son?” MacCready shouted back. Evelyn recoiled, a sudden look of defeat about her features. “Look, I already feel like a piece of shi…a piece of garbage for leaving him behind, but I had to make a choice. It was too dangerous to bring him with me, so I left him in the care of some old friends while I came here to look for better work.”

“I’m sorry,” Evelyn whimpered. “There must be something we can do.”

“Actually, there might be. I met a guy a few months back who said he had a buddy who’d gotten sick. I brushed it off at first until he said that the guy had broken out in blue boils. There’s no way that’s a coincidence, right? So I gave him a few caps and he gave me this,” he explained, taking a scrap of paper from his breast pocket. “He said it’s the password to override the lockdown sequence at Med-Tek research. The cure has to be there, I just know it. The last time I tried to go there by myself, though, the place was swarming with ferals, so I hightailed it out of there.”

Evelyn checked the map on her Pip-Boy. She remembered where the Med-Tek building had stood before the war, a little north of the river separating the north side from the financial district. It was quite a detour on the route to Diamond City. “We’ll head out first thing in the morning. This time, you won’t have to face those ferals on your own. I was planning on going to Diamond City, but we’ll take a pit stop at Med-Tek Research on the way and we’ll find the cure for your son,” she assured him, cupping a hand on his shoulder. “You done ignoring me now?”

MacCready smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Yeah, I guess I am.”


	22. A Fighting Chance

Evelyn and MacCready met up with Piper at the bridge the next morning before dawn. When they got there, Piper had been there for several minutes, enjoying a cup of coffee while she waited for the sun to rise. She eyed Evelyn and MacCready with a grin on her face. “So…” she started. “What were you two up to last night?”

“Nope, nope, not getting into this right now. Let’s just go,” MacCready protested, throwing his hands up as he stepped onto the bridge, setting his pace several feet ahead of the two women.

Piper turned her gaze to Evelyn, a broad, obnoxious smirk pulling at her lips. “Looks like your new mercenary pal here’s hiding something, Blue,” she cooed. “Now I really want to know. Spill it.”

Evelyn chuckled, “It was so hot. We got down and dirty with some filthy, unbridled cuddling. We tried sleeping in separate beds, but neither of us have had to sleep alone for quite a while now, so it just felt weird. That’s the extent of the detail I’m dishing today. Now, quit being so nosy, Pipes.” She then trotted ahead to catch up with MacCready.

When the three reached the crossroads just north of Concord, Evelyn stopped and checked the map on her Pip-boy, pointing them eastward.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” Piper began, “But aren’t we going the wrong way? Diamond City is pretty much a straight shot south of here.”

“Oh, hell, did I forget to tell you?” Evelyn winced, chiding herself. “We’re taking the long way today. We need to stop at Med-Tek Research before we do anything else.”

“Why the hell would we go there?” Piper exclaimed. “That place is riddled with ferals! Last time I even passed by that shithole on my way to Malden I barely got away with my life! You do realize that there’s a hospital full of super mutants right next to it, too, right? It’s a death trap!”

“There’s something there I need. It’s a life or death situation,” MacCready declared somberly. “You can head to Diamond City on your own if you want, but it would be nice to have an extra set of eyes and ears with us.”

Piper let out an agitated sigh, and, against her better judgment, decided to continue following them. The three of them walked at a steady pace for a couple of hours before encountering a smattering of feral ghouls at Bedford Station, a minor inconvenience that set them back by about fifteen minutes. Evelyn was impressed by how well MacCready dealt with them. It seemed like he was beginning to face his deepest fear head-on.

They reached the dilapidated Med-Tek Research facility a little before noon. Three ghouls staggered around aimlessly in front of the door, none the wiser of the trio’s presence around the corner. Piper snuck around to a column near the entrance and squeezed the trigger on her pistol, just as Evelyn and MacCready fired their rifles. Just like that, the ghouls were down. Evelyn shouldered her rifle and unsheathed her sword before opening the doors.

The three of them had a mess of a time trying to find the master terminal to override the security lockdown, but they mowed down the feral ghouls standing in their way like professionals. After they found the terminal, MacCready pulled the scrap of paper from his breast pocket and typed the password, effectively remotely opening the sublevel of the research facility. “Alright, let’s go downstairs. If my sources were right, the cure should be in a room at the lowermost point in the building,” he said authoritatively.

When they reached the sublevel, they were greeted with a multitude of ghouls and a set of doors to a lab that could only be unlocked at the computer terminal sitting next to them. Evelyn instructed Piper to hack into the terminal to gain access to the lab while she and MacCready took care of the ghouls. After the immediate threat was absolved and the doors were unlocked, the three of them took to rummaging through the lab until MacCready found a red syringe with the word, “PREVENT” printed across it.

“Here it is!” he exclaimed joyfully, stuffing it into his pocket. He picked Evelyn up by the waist, spinning her in circles before setting her back down and burying his face in her neck. “We did it, Ev. Duncan has a fighting chance to live,” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Now we just need to get this to Daisy in Goodneighbor. She’s the only one I trust with caravan connections to get this to the Capital Wastes.”

Piper watched the two of them with a smug smile. Those two weren’t fooling anyone. Whatever kind of platonic friendship they were trying to play off was a transparent cover for something a lot deeper. “Well, Blue,” she said, “I think I can find my way to Diamond City from here by myself. I’ll get in touch with Nick and let him know you’ll be in Goodneighbor. After that, I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

Before she stepped out of the room, she turned around and winked. “Hate to get in the way of you lovebirds’ celebration, after all.”

Evelyn and MacCready looked at each other for a moment, their faces flushed, before resolving to leave Med-Tek and hit the road to Goodneighbor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about to get fluffy in here! Stay tuned.


	23. Moving On

It was mid-afternoon by the time Evelyn and MacCready left the research facility and headed south for Goodneighbor. In spite of the urgency needed to get the cure to Daisy, the two walked more slowly than usual, taking an opportunity to talk about trivial things. They revealed to each other their favorite colors, foods and songs, what they liked to do with their spare time, and overall focused on getting to know each other outside of combat situations.

“You know I used to live in a cave? We called it Little Lamplight. Just me and a bunch of other kids. We didn’t trust adults, so once you turned sixteen, you had to pack up and leave. Can you believe I used to be the mayor? Crazy, I know,” MacCready chuckled.

“How did a bunch of kids survive on their own with no adults?” Evelyn asked with an expression of shock as she brushed a strand of hair from her eye. “I mean, that’s pretty impressive, but it seems insane.”

“Everyone pulled their own weight,” he replied. “We got by with enough supplies and defenses to keep everyone safe. We lived on whatever we could, taught ourselves to read with comic books, and just helped each other out however we were able. I decided to take up defense, picked up a sniper rifle when I was ten and never looked back.”

“Taught yourselves to read with comic books, huh?” Evelyn laughed. “Sounds just like my husband. He was such a nerd.” At the thought of her late husband, Evelyn trailed off, retreating into her own thoughts, a sense of despair at the realization that part of her was missing.

MacCready looked at her with concern and said, “I’m sorry if I struck a nerve. I know what it’s like, losing someone close.”

Evelyn snapped back to reality and turned her gaze to MacCready with a sincere smile, wiping a tear from her face as she whispered, “No, I’m glad you’re sharing all this with me. It’s nice getting to know you when there aren’t bullets flying past my face.” She let out a heavy sigh before confiding, “It’s been hard the last couple of months. I’ve had to make peace with the fact that Nate is gone. All I know about the whereabouts of our son is that he’s at the Institute, wherever the hell that is, and I haven’t made much headway in finding him other than that. It hurts.”

MacCready took Evelyn’s hand into his own and squeezed it tightly. “I’m not exactly a touchy-feely type of guy,” he began, “but for you, I can make an exception. As someone who’s been through it before, I’m here for you.” He saw the pain in Evelyn’s eyes, wanting nothing more than to wash it away in any way he could. In spite of her hard exterior, the way she was so quick to brutally annihilate anyone that stood in her way, there was a strange innocence about her, something hard to come by in the Commonwealth. He hated that she had such a hold on him, and that her eyes had him under her spell, but he loved being around her, almost as though some of her innate goodness could rub off on him. Maybe, just as his son had wished, he could become a better person in her presence.

“Thank you, Robert,” Evelyn sighed, lacing her fingers with his. “I know it’s weird, our relationship. I don’t know of many couples that hold hands, sleep in the same bed and kiss spontaneously that aren’t seriously involved, or at least just fucking each other with no strings attached, but I’m glad that we have this.” She took in a deep breath as if to say something further, but stopped and pulled MacCready down to a crouch, holding a finger up to her lips.

“I know a Raider hideout when I see one,” she said in a hushed tone, peering around the corner of a building at a ramshackle barricade laced with barbwire. “We’d better lay low for a minute, stay quiet.” The two of them squatted with their backs against the brick wall, each lighting a cigarette and quietly debating how to bypass the obstacle. MacCready favored taking the Raiders head-on, while Evelyn argued that, given the circumstances, it would be in their best interest to sneak around and take the long way to Goodneighbor, as the cure for Duncan’s illness wouldn’t be very effective in the hands of Raider scum in the event that they were overpowered.

In the end, Evelyn’s logic won out over MacCready’s idea of a more direct approach. The two stamped out their cigarettes and snuck, low to the ground, past the gate. They stood upright and quickened their pace when they heard one of the Raiders shouting to alert the others of a hostile presence nearby, barely escaping without being detected.

After a few more hours of brisk walking through the dreaded Boston Common, Evelyn and MacCready approached the door to Goodneighbor. Only then did it occur to Evelyn that an interaction with the mayor was likely inevitable. _Shit._ She had, however, made up her mind to stay at the Hotel Rexford with her mercenary companion in lieu of reliving one of the best casual sexual experiences of her life.

When they passed the threshold into Goodneighbor, MacCready bolted over to Daisy’s shop, brimming with excitement and tears streaming down his face. “We did it, Daisy! We found the cure for Duncan’s illness!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms around the demure pre-war ghoul. As Evelyn approached, a warm smile spread across her lips as she leaned against the doorway, MacCready turned his gaze to her and said, “I couldn’t have done it without you, Evelyn. I owe you my life…I owe you everything I could possibly give you and more.” He handed the red syringe to Daisy, assured that it would make it to the Capital Wastes as soon as the next caravan came through.

Just as they were preparing to leave the shop and head to the Hotel Rexford for some much needed rest, Daisy piped up, “Miss Evelyn, do me a favor, would you? Take care of MacCready. He’s one of the good ones, once you get to know him.”

Evelyn smiled and gently gripped MacCready’s upper arm. “I will, Daisy,” she replied. “Oh, and before I forget, I returned your library book.” On that note, the two sauntered out of the shop.

As they rounded a corner to pass The Third Rail, Evelyn and MacCready stopped as everyone in town gathered in the space to listen to a speech that Mayor Hancock was delivering from the balcony. Evelyn would have liked to pass it by and call it a night, but the mention of the Institute caught her attention. Hancock painted them in the same light that the seemingly paranoid residents of Diamond City had – a thief in the night, a bogeyman out to stalk and replace unsuspecting citizens with synthetic imitations. The difference was that Hancock spoke of them as an entity not to be feared, but to be fought. He made it known that the citizens of Goodneighbor were not to be fucked with by the Commonwealth’s biggest threat.

When the speech concluded, Evelyn wasted no time in dragging MacCready by the arm to the Hotel Rexford and renting a room for the night. Hers would be on the top floor at the end of the hall on the right. As she approached the staircase, she turned to MacCready and sighed, “Whether you want to stay with me tonight or not is up to you; we’re back on your turf, now, so do whatever is comfortable for you. There is something I want to talk about, though. I never did finish what I wanted to say to you earlier.”

MacCready snickered, “I think you know where I’d rather be tonight. So, what’s on your mind?”

“Well,” Evelyn began as they ascended the staircase, “like I told you earlier, I’ve had to accept the fact that my husband is gone and he’s never coming back. I’ve had little time to grieve, but time has been moving so fast since I stepped into the Wasteland.” She stopped in the middle of the stairwell and turned to face him eye to eye. “What I’m saying is that I think I’m ready to move on.”

MacCready looked into her eyes, looking for any sign of insincerity. She had, after all, told him that her fling with Mayor Hancock had been an act of desperation, an attempt to feel whole in her husband’s absence. As much as he wanted to connect with her, to be with her, to be inside her, he felt too strongly about her to just let her have her way with him only for her to leave and move on to her next fix. His train of thought abruptly ceased as she cupped his jaw in her hand and grazed her lips over his.

“Wait,” MacCready protested against his better judgment, gently pressing a finger onto her lips. “You’re sure?”

“No, I’m not,” Evelyn replied, “But I’m willing to try if you are.”

MacCready pressed his lips into hers without hesitation and sighed as Evelyn wrapped her arms around his neck. She parted her lips to allow his tongue entry into her mouth and he pushed her against the wall, one hand against it as the other made its way to her leg to pull it up to his waist. Evelyn let out a quiet moan of appreciation when he slowly pushed his hips into hers, the evidence of his arousal pressing against her. He quickly recoiled at the sound of footsteps approaching.

Evelyn giggled, feeling a lot like a teenager who had been caught in the act. She traced a finger down MacCready’s neck, sending a shiver up his spine as she whispered, “Let’s go somewhere private.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! I hope you're enjoying it so far. I've been a little disappointed in the past couple of chapters, so I'm going to refrain from posting a new one for a couple of days to give myself time to work on what I do best: a relentlessly smutty smut fest.


	24. Somewhere Private

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NSFW!

When they crossed the threshold into their room for the night, MacCready wasted no time in slamming the door and pinning Evelyn up against it to pick up where they left off. He brought his lips to hers, their tongues intertwining hungrily between stifled moans. His hands fumbled anxiously to undo the buckles of her chest armor. When it was successfully removed and cast to the side, he tugged at the zipper of her leather jacket and tore it off of her arms, her shoulder armor clanging loudly against the hardwood floor before he slid his hands under her shirt, feeling the soft skin of her waist for the first time. A shudder overcame his body and a strained groan escaped his lips as Evelyn pulled away from his mouth to sink her teeth into his neck, frantically undoing the harness on his hips and the buttons of his duster to yank them off of his torso.

In their desperate struggle to remove each other’s clothes, Evelyn tripped over MacCready’s leg, maintaining a firm grip on his back, and sent them both tumbling down. The mercenary rolled on top of her, one arm braced against the floor to support his weight as his free hand worked its way back up her shirt and under her bra to cup one of her supple breasts. She clutched his shoulders tightly, arching her back to press her chest against his as she took his lips back into her mouth, having an insatiable thirst to taste him again. Regaining her sense of balance, she pushed MacCready up to his knees to straddle him, grinding her hips against his lap as she broke their kiss to pull his shirt over his head.

Evelyn leaned back slightly to admire his vulnerability. His torso was lean yet had muscular definition, and was covered in scars. She gently smoothed her fingers down his chest and stomach, rewarded with the tensing of his abdominal muscles as her hands grazed over a sensitive spot on his sides. She pushed her torso against his, relishing the heat radiating off of his skin. He pressed his hands against her hips and rounded them to her ass, cupping both cheeks firmly in his hands and taking in a sharp, frustrated breath as his erection rubbed painfully against his pants beneath her. His hands trailed up her back to undo the clasp on her bra and to pull her shirt over her head, sliding both garments over her arms. He swallowed the dry lump in his throat as his eyes slowly scanned each feature – the smooth lines of her abdomen, the generous swell of her heaving breasts and the collar bone he had been dying to taste since he first caught a glimpse of it back at the vault.

Evelyn leaned back, her hands pressed into the hardwood floor as a playful smirk crossed her lips. “You like what you see?” she cooed.

“There are no words,” he stammered before he shifted forward and latched his mouth to her clavicle, running his tongue over the thin veil of skin on top of the bone. Her breathing became more labored when his hands crossed the sensitive skin of her ribs, then slid down her stomach to her waistband to unbutton her pants. When one hand reached beneath the thin fabric of her panties, she moaned quietly, digging her nails into his back as he firmly rubbed against her with his fingers. He slid his tongue up the length of her neck to her jaw, gently nipping at it before their lips reunited. Evelyn unbuttoned MacCready’s trousers to gain access to his girth but tensed and cried out when he inserted two of his fingers into her and began pumping them in and out with as much range as the tightness of her clothes would allow.

“Oh, fuck,” Evelyn hissed, pulling MacCready back on top of her as she leaned back to a recumbent position, allowing her to reach a hand down his pants. She let out a quiet gasp, pleasantly surprised by what he was packing. She turned her gaze to his eyes as she stroked his length up and down, occasionally cupping the tip in her hand and twisting her gentle grip back down to the base. He was panting heavily, tensing his muscles with every movement that took place beneath his underwear. He removed his fingers from her to gently pull her hand away and got up to his knees to pull her pants and underwear off before sitting up to remove his own.

Evelyn got up on all fours, crawling closer to him like a cat stalking her prey. She spread her knees to position herself on his lap and brought her face to his, flicking her tongue over his lips before whispering, “I need you.”

That was the operative word, need, which stiffened him up all the more. He took his member into his hand, guiding it towards her succulent entrance. They both moaned softly as she slowly lowered herself, seating his length deep inside her. They stilled in silence for a few moments, enjoying this sudden feeling of utmost intimacy, before Evelyn took the lead and began rocking back and forth, using her knees to shift up and down as well, oscillating her hips over his. MacCready dug his fingers into her waist, breathing heavily as he enjoyed the show. He brought his knees up to an angle, allowing Evelyn to lean back against his thighs as she used her own legs to continue to shift up and down. A moan escaped MacCready’s lips, his head spinning as he watched himself sliding in and out of her.

“Oh, fu…ck,” he gasped, completely abandoning his usual reservations about swearing. “You feel so good.” He pulled her hips close to his, ran his hands down her thighs to the backs of her knees and shifted to get on top of her once more, remaining firmly settled inside her all the while. He lifted one of her legs over his shoulder and began to thrust his hips, aggressively pumping in and out of her at a steady pace, not wanting to rush anything by going too fast. Evelyn’s body writhed beneath him, a thin veil of sweat covering her bare torso, her nipples hardening before his eyes. He lowered her leg and, pushing himself into her depths as far as he could, bent down to take a nipple into his mouth. The hand that wasn’t braced against the floor to maintain his balance cupped her other breast and rolled her pert nipple between his fingers. 

“I’m so close,” Evelyn sighed, “bend me over.”

MacCready followed her instructions and pulled out of her, allowing her to get up and bend over the nearby bed. He settled behind her and spread her legs wide beforehand pushing himself back in, this time establishing a desperate, relentlessly fast, hard rhythm. The bedframe knocked loudly against the wall with each thrust and both MacCready and Evelyn were sighing and moaning loudly enough to wake the dead. Evelyn let out a squeal as she felt MacCready’s hand slide down her stomach to press his fingers into her clitoris. She sucked in a harsh breath as a tingling sensation overcame her whole body, ready for release. She cried out his name repeatedly until her walls tightened around him, a gush of juices soaking his skin. Her strained scream reverberated through the room, a deafening silence permeating the air when she was through. MacCready pulled her up by the chest so that she sat on top of his lap with her back against his chest and gently wrapped a hand around her neck. His body trembled and tensed as he spilled inside her, burying his face in her hair almost as though to conceal the loud, desperate moan that escaped him.

“That…was amazing,” he breathed, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist before reluctantly removing himself. 

Evelyn got up onto the bed, watching him as he joined her. She stroked a hand through his hair and looked deeply into his glazed eyes. As their breathing slowly returned to normal, Evelyn raised an eyebrow and grinned, “Did I hear you curse, Robert?”

“Kind of hard not to when my cock is buried in that tight pussy of yours,” he chuckled, racking up the caps he would owe the swear jar if he had one. Evelyn’s face took on a deep shade of red at hearing him talk that way. He draped one arm over her waist, gently tracing the curves of her back with his fingers as he sighed, “I don’t think it’d hurt if I swear a little behind closed doors if we keep doing that.”

Evelyn grinned, shifting her weight to lie closer to him. “Just promise me you’ll talk dirty next time and I won’t tell on you,” she giggled, snuggling up to his chest.

“I can try,” he began, “but I can’t promise that the extent of my sexy talk won’t be quotes from _Grognak the Barbarian._ ”

Evelyn burst out laughing. She gazed up into his eyes adoringly as she shook her head and sighed, “You are such a nerd.”

That’s when a fleeting thought crossed her mind – something bothersome and nagging that she pushed back down into her psyche. She resolved to revisit it later, allowing her heavy eyelids to drop so she could fall asleep in MacCready’s embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, smut! If you read my other fic, which was purely smut and nothing else, you might have noticed that I cleaned up the language a little bit for this scene, kind of to fit the style of the story. Should I dirty it up or leave it the way it is?


End file.
